WASHINGTON 


GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


A >’* '* ■’ ‘ ■ t. V'A\  AV’A'-.-  '*  ••  , 

HENRY  LANDES,  STATE  GEOLOGIST 


‘V'OLTJME  I. 

UAL  REPORT  FOR  1001. 

IN  SIX  PARTS. 


PART  III. 


THE  NON-METALLIFEROUS  RESOURCES 
OF  WASHINGTON,  EXCEPT  COAL. 

BY 


HENRY  LANDES. 


WASHINGTON 


GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


HENRY  LANDES,  STATE  GEOLOGIST. 


Volume  I. 

ANNUAL  REPORT  FOR  1901. 

IN  SIX  PARTS. 


PART  III. 


THE  NON -MET ALLIFEROU S RESOURCES 
OF  WASHINGTON,  EXCEPT  COAL. 

BY 

HENRY  LANDES. 


GEOLOGY 


OLYMPIA,  WASH.: 

GWIN  HICKS,  . . . STATE  PRINTER, 
1902. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/nonmetalliferous1319land 


BOARD  OF  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY, 


Henry  McBride, President. 

Governor  of  Washington. 

C.  W.  Maynard, Secretary. 


Treasurer  of  Washington. 

F.  P.  Graves, — 

President  of  the  University  of  Washington. 

E.  A.  Bryan, — 

President  of  the  Washington  Agricultural  College  and  School  of  Science. 


STAFF  OF  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


Henry  Landes, State  Geologist. 

Professor  of  Geology,  University  of  Washington. 

Solon  Shedd, Geologist. 

Professor  of  Geology,  Washington  Agricultural  College  and 
School  of  Science. 

W.  S.  Thyng, . Geologist . 

Professor  of  Mining  Engineering,  Washington  Agricultural 
College  and  School  of  Science. 

D.  A.  Lyon, Geologist. 

Late  Professor  of  Mining  Engineering  and  Metallurgy, 

University  of  Washington. 


936892 


COISTTEISTTS. 


Preface 


PAGE. 

. vii 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington,  Except 

Coal 

Building  and  Ornamental  Stones 

Introduction 

Granite  Quarries 

Index  

Spokane  

Medical  Lake 

Snake  River 

Sandstone  Quarries 

Chuckanut 

Sucia  Island 

Tenino 

Wilkeson 

Serpentine  Quarries 

Valley 

Marble  Quarries 

Stevens  County 

Clay  Materials 

Introduction 

Denny  Clay  Company 

Little  Falls  Fire  Clay  Company 

Washington  Brick,  Lime  and  Manufacturing  Company 

Limestone 

Introduction 

San  Juan  Islands 

Granite  Falls 

Springdale 

Republic 

Soils 

General  Statement 

Origin  of  Soils 

Disintegration  of  Rocks  by  Mechanical  Agents 

Disintegration  of  Rocks  by  Chemical  Agents 

Fertility  of  Soils 

Chemical  Composition 

Physical  Condition 

Climate 

Washington  Soils 

Soils  of  Western  Washington 

Soils  of  Eastern  Washington 


1 

1 

1 

4 

4 

5 
5 

5 

6 
6 
7 
7 

10 

10 

10 

12 

12 

13 

13 

14 
18 
22 
24 
24 
24 

27 

28 
28 
30 
30 

30 

31 

32 

33 

33 

34 

34 

35 
35 
37 


VI 


Contents. 


Non-Metalliferous  Resources  — Continued : page. 

Road-Making  Materials 41 

General  Statement 41 

The  Construction  and  Care  of  Roads 41 

Materials  for  Road-Making 42 

Road-Making  Materials  of  Washington 43 

Petroleum 47 

General  Statement 47 

Conditions  of  Occurrence 47 

Origin  of  Petroleum 48 

Petroleum  in  Washington 49 

Index 51 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FACING  PAGE. 

The  State  Capitol,  constructed  of  Chuckanut  and  Tenino  Sandstone.  1 

Tenino  Sandstone  Quarry  7 

Mill  for  Sawing  Stone,  Tenino  Sandstone  Quarry 7 

Quarry  of  U.  S.  Marble  Company,  Valley 10 

New  Quarry  Level,  U.  S.  Marble  Company,  Valley 12 

Quarry  of  U.  S.  Marble  Company,  Valley 12 

Denny  Clay  Works,  Seattle 16 

Plant  of  the  Washington  Brick,  Lime  and  Manufacturing  Company, 

at  Clayton 22 

Roche  Harbor  Lime  Works 26 

Quarry  of  the  Valley-Brook  Lime  Works,  Springdale 28 

Lime  Kilns,  Valley-Brook  Lime  Works,  Springdale 28 


PREFACE. 


In  this  article  on  the  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of 
Washington,  Except  Coal,  a brief  discussion  is  had  of  six 
mineral  products,  viz. : building  and  ornamental  stones,  clay 
materials,  limestone,  soils,  road-making  materials,  and  petroleum. 

In  the  few  pages  devoted  to  building  and  ornamental  stones, 
some  reference  is  made  to  the  geographical  distribution  of  these 
products,  and  the  best  developed  quarries  are  hastily  described. 
While  the  building  and  ornamental  stones  of  the  state  are  of 
great  importance,  but  scant  attention  is  given  them  in  this  report 
because  it  is  planned  that  they  shall  be  the  subject  of  an  extended 
and  exhaustive  article  in  the  report  for  1902. 

While  clay  is  an  important  resource,  the  matter  pertaining  to 
it  is  chiefly  limited  to  descriptions  of  a few  of  the  leading  plants 
concerned  in  the  manufacture  of  clay  products.  As  in  the  case 
of  building  stone  a complete  account  of  the  clay  resources  of  the 
state  will  be  given  in  the  next  annual  report. 

Limestone  for  lime-making  is  one  of  the  state’s  leading  min- 
eral resources.  Large  deposits  of  excellent  limestone  occur  at 
many  places  in  Washington.  The  lime-burning  industry  is 
already  well  developed,  and  at  the  present  time  large  quantities 
of  lime  are  exported  from  Washington  to  all  the  neighboring 
states,  to  California  and  to  Hawaii. 

Soils  come  under  the  head  of  non-metalliferous,  or  mineral 
resources,  because  they  are  derived  directly  from  rocks.  In  this 
article  soils  are  treated  from  the  geological  standpoint,  and  the 
close  connections  between  the  rock  formations  and  the  different 
varieties  of  soils  is  shown. 


Till 


Preface. i. 


Road-making  materials  are  valuable  resources  wherever  they 
occur,  and  Washington  is  fortunate  in  possessing  throughout  the 
state  road  metals  of  superior  quality.  Road  construction  on  the 
most  scientifia  basis  is  receiving  a great  deal  of  attention  now-a- 
days  in  the  older  states,  and  Washington  with  her  splendid  ma- 
terials should  be  a leader  in  the  grand  movement  toward  good 
roads. 

Petroleum,  at  the  present  time,  is  not  one  of  the  state’s  de- 
termined mineral  resources.  The  subject  receives  some  con- 
sideration in  this  report  because  of  the  wide-spread  interest  in  oil 
prospecting,  and  because  of  the  many  inquiries  as  to  whether  or 
not  there  is  any  possibility  of  oil  being  found  in  different  parts 
of  the  state.  There  are  some  parts  of  Washington  where  the 
correspondence  in  age,  composition  and  structure  between  the 
rocks  here  and  those  of  the  oil-bearing  districts  of  California  is 
very  striking.  In  such  localities  of  the  state,  especially  where 
there  are  good  surface  indications,  prospecting  for  oil  may  be 
looked  upon  as  well  worth  the  while. 


Washington  Geological  Survey.  Annual  Report," 'Mil.  Plate  Alii. 


THE  STATE  CAPITOL,  CONSTRUCTED  OF  CHUCK ANUT  AND,.jmNINO  SANDSTONE. 


THE  NON-MET ALLIFEROUS  RESOURCES 
OF  WASHINGTON. 


BUILDING  AND  ORNAMENTAL  STONES. 

INTRODUCTION. 

In  order  to  be  valuable  for  building  purposes  a stone  must 
possess  strength  and  durability  and  be  of  a pleasing  color.  In 
addition  to  these  qualifications,  it  must  be  accessible  to  market. 
It  must  also  be  of  such  a nature  that  it  can  be  worked  into  the 
proper  shape  without  an  undue  amount  of  labor. 

In  regard  to  the  first  qualification,  that  of  strength,  its  import- 
ance is  usually  overrated.  Most  stone  is  sufficiently  strong  to 
withstand  the  weight  of  any  ordinary  building,  and  it  is  only 
when  the  stone  is  required  for  heavy  masonry  construction  that 
its  crushing  strength  needs  to  be  carefully  considered. 

The  durability  of  a stone  is  a much  more  important  factor. 
Buildings  which  are  constructed  of  stone  are  presumably  built 
to  last,  and  careful  attention  should  therefore  be  given  to  the 
durability  of  the  material.  Stones  of  different  kinds  are  vari- 
ously affected  by  the  atmosphere.  Sandstones  which  are  com- 
posed mainly  of  quartz  grains  are  affected  according  to  the 
character  of  the  cementing  material.  If  the  cement  which  binds 
the  grains  together  is  easily  leaqhed  out  by  water  the  stone 
quickly  crumbles  away,  but  if  the  grains  are  bound  together  with 
silica  or  some  other  insoluble  material  the  stone  is  very  durable. 

Granitic  rocks  and  nearly  all  of  tne  finer  grained  igneous  rocks 
make  very  durable  building  stones.  Gneiss  and  schist  are  apt 
to  scale  off  along  their  bedding  planes  and  when  they  are  used 
in  building  should  always  be  laid  on  their  flat  side,  and  never  on 
edge.  The  same  rule  applies  to  all  stones  that  show  any  signs 
of  bedding. 

Serpentine,  while  rather  a soft  rock,  seems  to  be  little  affected 


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Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


by  atmospheric  agents,  and  when  not  too  badly  fissured  lasts  for 
a long  time.  Marble  and  limestone  are  somewhat  soluble  in 
water  and  in  time  weather  badly,  as  may  be  seen  in  any  old 
cemetery  where  the  lettering  on  the  marble  monuments  is  often 
entirely  obliterated. 

The  commercial  value  of  a building  stone  is  largely  influenced 
by  its  color.  Light,  fresh  colors  are  in  more  popular  demand 
than  are  the  more  somber  tints.  A very  dark  stone  of  any  shade 
is  rarely  used  in  building  except  perhaps  for  foundation  work. 

The  cost  of  putting  a stone  on  the  market  depends,  ist,  on  the 
accessibility  of  the  quarry,  and  2d,  on  the  ease  with  which  the 
stone  can  be  quarried  and  dressed  to  the  proper  shape.  The 
quarries  thus  far  opened  in  Washington  are  practically  all  close 
to  a large  town  or  city,  or  alongside  a railroad,  or  convenient  to 
navigable  water.  Stone  will  not  bear  the  expense  of  a long  haul 
unless  it  be  of  more  than  ordinary  value.  Good  stone  is  so 
widely  distributed  that  builders  usually  prefer  to  use  that  near 
at  hand  rather  than  go  to  the  increased  expense  of  importing  it 
from  a distance. 

More  important  even  than  accessibility,  from  the  standpoint 
of  cost,  is  the  ease  with  which  the  stone  can  be  quarried  and 
dressed.  Some  stones  are  so  extremely  hard  to  work  that  al- 
though they  are  very  desirable  otherwise,  they  can  not  be  used 
for  building  purposes.  The  soft  sandstones  of  Western  Wash- 
ington are  very  easily  worked,  and  it  is  to  this  quality  rather  than 
to  the  beauty  or  durability  which  they  may  possess  that  they  are 
indebted  for  their  present  development.  Granite  is  consider- 
ably harder  to  work  than  sandstone.  It  can  not  be  sawed  eco- 
nomically and  it  has  no  bedding  planes  to  assist  in  splitting  it 
into  the  required  shape.  Advantage  is  taken  of  its  joint  planes 
wherever  possible.  Many  of  the  finer  grained  igneous  rocks  are 
still  more  difficult,  and  it  is  only  when  they  take  a fine  polish 
and  are  suitable  for  monumental  purposes  that  it  pays  to  work 
them.  Serpentine  is  soft  and  easily  sawed  and  polished.  Many 
stones  otherwise  desirable  vary  so  rapidly  from  one  shade  of 
color  to  another  that  no  large  quantity  can  be  had  of  the  same 
shade,  so  that  when  stone  is  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of  a 
large  building  it  is  important  to  ascertain  beforehand  if  a suffi- 
cient amount  can  be  obtained  that  will  be  uniform  in  color  and 


texture. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


3 


Washington  possesses  an  unusual  variety  of  rocks  suitable 
for  building  and  monumental  purposes,  only  a few  of  the  most 
accessible  of  which  will  be  enumerated  here. 

In  western  Washington  sandstone  belonging  to  the  Tertiary 
period  occurs  in  a large  number  of  places  about  the  borders  of 
Puget  sound  and  farther  south  towards  the  Columbia  river.  It 
shows  considerable  variation  in  color  and  hardness,  but  is  usually 
of  a light  grayish  or  bluish  color,  weathering  sometimes  to  a 
light  buff  for  a short  distance  below  the  surface.  It  is  never 
very  hard  and  is  easily  quarried  and  cut  into  the  required  shape. 

In  eastern  Washington  between  the  Cascade  mountains  and 
Columbia  river  large  areas  of  sandstone  of  Tertiary  age  occur 
in  several  places  along  the  Great  Northern  and  the  Northern 
Pacific  railways  in  Chelan  and  Kittitas  counties.  They  have 
never  been  used  to  any  extent  for  building  purposes  and  are 
probably  too  soft  to  be  of  much  value. 

Coarse  sandstone  and  conglomerate  of  Cretaceous  age  con- 
stitute the  bed  rock  of  the  northern  islands  of  the  San  Juan 
group.  The  sandstone  varies  in  color  through  different  shades 
from  gray  to  brown.  On  Waldron  island  it  forms  cliffs  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  high  along  the  shore.  It  also  occurs  on 
Sucia,  Matia,  Spieden,  Stuart  and  the  northern  part  of  Orcas 
island. 

Granite  occurs  in  a number  of  places  both  in  eastern  and 
western  Washington.  Along  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  it 
occurs  at  intervals  all  the  way  from  Index  to  within  a mile  of 
Leavenworth.  It  is  also  known  to  occur  between  Snoqualmie 
and  North  Bend  and  on  Mount  Si,  on  the  line  of  the  Snoqualmie 
branch  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway. 

East  of  the  Cascades  granite  forms  the  country  rock  in  a 
number  of  places  in  Kittitas,  Chelan,  Okanogan  and  Ferry 
counties,  in  none  of  which,  however,  has  it  been  used  for  build- 
ing purposes,  because  of  an  absence  of  any  demand.  Near 
Spokane  and  at  Medical  Lake  granite  also  occurs  which  has 
been  quarried  extensively.  Other  small  areas  have  been  noted 
in  the  canyon  of  Snake  river. 

The  basalt  forming  the  Columbia  lava  plain  is  not  a high 
grade  building  stone.  It  is  too  dark,  and  is  too  hard  to  work 
into  shape.  It  has  been  used  to  a considerable  extent  for  bridge 
piers  and  in  foundation  work  for  buildings.  Other  lavas  lighter 


4 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


in  color  and  more  suitable  for  building  purposes  are  found  in  a 
number  of  places  in  the  Cascade  and  Olympic  mountains,  but 
have  not  yet  been  utilized.  Serpentine,  valuable  for  building 
and  ornamental  purposes,  is  extensively  quarried  at  only  one 
place,  viz.,  Valley,  Stevens  county. 

GRANITE  QUARRIES. 

Index. 

The  Index  granite  works,  owned  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Soderberg, 
have  for  the  last  ten  years  enjoyed  a practical  monopoly  of  the 
granite  business  in  the  Puget  sound  region,  except  for  the  finer 
varieties  used  in  monumental  work.  Large  quantities  of  this 
granite  have  been  used  for  street  curbing,  monument  bases, 
foundation  work  for  buildings,  and  many  other  purposes.  It  is 
a light  gray  biotite-bearing  hornblende  granite  with  crystals  of 
orthoclase  and  plagioclase  feldspar.  The  great  preponderance  of 
feldspar  over  quartz  carries  the  rock  near  to  the  border  line  of 
syenite.  It  makes  a strong,  substantial  building  stone  but  will 
not  take  a good  polish.  It  occurs  in  inexhaustible  quantities  in 
the  country  about  Index,  the  whole  core  of  the  mountain  being 
made  of  it.  The  quarry  is  located  alongside  of  the  railway  track, 
about  half  a mile  west  of  the  railway  station  at  Index.  The 
rock  is  blasted  loose  with  black  powder  and  split  up  into  blocks 
by  means  of  plug  and  feather  drills.  Cars  are  run  on  the  side 
track  and  the  blocks  of  stone  are  loaded  by  means  of  derricks. 
The  number  of  men  employed  varies  with  the  number  of  orders 
on  hand.  During  the  summer  of  1901  about  forty  men  were 
employed  continually. 

About  one-half  mile  east  of  Index  a new  granite  quarry  has 
been  opened  lately  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Ellis,  of  Seattle.  It  is  very 
similar  to  the  Soderberg  stone,  but  is  a little  brighter  in  appear- 
ance. It  is  being  used  for  the  piers  of  the  new  Arcade  building 
at  the  corner  of  Second  avenue  and  Marion  streets,  Seattle.  It 
is  also  being  used  for  monument  bases  by  some  of  the  marble 
companies  in  Seattle.  The  demand  for  granite  in  western  Wash- 
ington is  increasing  vary  fast,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  both 
of  these  Index  quarries  will  soon  be  developed  on  a much  larger 
scale.  They  are  very  favorably  located  with  regard  to  the  rail- 
road, and  the  stone  is  so  situated  that  it  can  be  quarried  at  a min- 
imum expense. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


5 


Spokane. 

Spokane  is  very  favorably  situated  with  regard  to  building 
stones.  There  are  several  granite  quarries  very  near  the  city 
which  are  worked  as  occasion  requires.  At  the  present  time, 
however,  none  of  the  quarries  are  being  worked  continuously. 
In  the  quarries  east  of  the  city  the  stone  is  taken  out  by  con- 
tractors who  only  aim  to  fill  their  standing  orders,  and  who  do 
not  keep  a supply  on  hand  or  do  any  work  when  there  are  no 
orders  ahead.  The  stone  varies  slightly  in  texture,  but  is  mostly 
a very  light  gray  muscovite-biotite  granite  with  large  crystals  of 
feldspar.  One  of  the  quarries  belonging  to  the  Washington 
Monumental  Company  is  in  a dark  gray  biotite-hornblende 
gneiss,  closely  banded.  The  stone  is  used  largely  for  street 
curbing,  monument  bases,  and  copings  for  building  purposes. 

Medical  Lake. 

The  quarry  at  Medical  Lake,  about  sixteen  miles  southwest 
of  Spokane,  is  in  granite  very  similar  to  that  found  about  Spo- 
kane. It  is  located  on  an  outcropping  of  granite  surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  basaltic  lava,  being  one  of  the  few  places  within  the 
lava  field  where  the  older  rocks  crop  out  on  the  surface.  The 
quarry  has  been  in  operation  for  a number  of  years.  Most  of  the 
product  goes  to  Spokane  and  surrounding  towns.  Some  of  it 
has  been  shipped  as  far  west  as  Seattle  where  it  was  used  in  the 
Administration  building  of  the  State  University. 

Snake  River. 

The  Snake  River  Granite  Quarry,  belonging  to  Mr.  Miles  C. 
Moore,  of  Walla  Walla,  is  located  on  a ledge  of  granite  at  the 
bottom  of  Snake  river  canyon  at  a point  where  the  river  has 
carved  its  way  through  the  basalt  and  laid  bare  the  older  forma- 
tion. The  quarry  is  situated  in  Whitman  county,  about  twenty 
miles  below  Lewiston,  in  township  13  N.,  R.  43  E.  The  rock 
occurs  on  both  sides  of  the  river  and  is  capped  by  basalt  proba- 
bly a thousand  feet  in  thickness.  A recently  constructed  branch 
line  of  the  Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation  Company  runs  di- 
rectly through  the  quarry.  Before  the  railroad  was  built  the 
river  steamers  landed  alonside  and  the  stone  was  hoisted  aboard 
by  means  of  derricks  and  carried  down  the  river  forty  miles  to 
Riparia,  where  it  was  transferred  to  the  O.  R.  & N.  Railway. 


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Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


The  stone  is  a light  gray  biotite-hornblende  granite  with  large 
crystals  of  clear  othoclase  feldspar.  It  is  very  hard  and  un- 
weathered and  makes  a handsome  and  durable  building  stone. 
About  fifty  thousand  cubic  feet  of  it  was  used  in  the  new  Gov- 
ernment building  at  Portland,  Oregon.  The  piers  and  buttresses 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  bridge  at  the  mouth  of  the  Snake  are  also 
constructed  of  this  stone.  It  is  used  largely  for  street  curbing 
in  Spokane,  Portland,  Walla  Walla,  and  other  cities. 

Farther  up  the  Snake  than  the  locality  last  mentioned,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Grand  Ronde  river,  Mr.  Moore  has  another 
granite  quarry,  but  which  is  not  as  accessible  as  the  first  one. 
The  stone  is  a dark  gray  hornblende-biotite  granite,  rather  fine 
grained.  It  takes  a beautiful  polish  and  has  been  used  to  some 
extent  for  monumental  work,  for  which  purpose  it  is  admirably 
suited.  Some  of  it  has  been  brought  down  to  Lewiston  on  scows 
and  from  there  re-shipped  by, steamers.  Navigation  on  the  upper 
Snake  is  very  precarious  and  until  better  shipping  facilities  are 
obtained  the  quarry  will  be  rather  handicapped.  Steamers  have 
at  times  of  high  water  ascended  the  river  to  points  above  this 
quarry,  but  for  practical  purposes  the  head  of  navigation  of  the 
Snake  seems  to  be  at  Asotin. 

SANDSTONE  QUARRIES. 

Chuckanut. 

The  Chuckanut  quarry  is  situated  on  Chuckanut  bay,  about 
five  miles  south  of  Whatcom.  The  stone  is  a bluish  sandstone 
very  similar  in  appearance  to  that  of  the  Tenino  quarry,  but  is 
considerably  harder.  Like  all  sandstones  of  this  class  it  hardens 
on  exposure  to  the  atmosphere  so  that  in  buildings  like  the  Dex- 
ter Horton  bank  building  of  Seattle,  where  it  has  been  in  posi- 
tion for  a number  of  years,  it  is  now  very  hard.  A compression 
test  made  at  the  Watertown  arsenal,  Massachusetts,  gave  an  av- 
erage crushing  strength  of  11,389  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 
This  strength  is  sufficient  for  all  of  the  weight  that  will  ever  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  stone  even  in  the  largest  buildings. 

The  stone  occurs  in  a high  bluff  overlooking  the  bay  and  the 
beds  pitch  towards  the  bay  at  a steep  angle.  As  the  rock  is 
blasted  loose  it  flakes  off  along  the  bedding  planes  and  is  al- 
lowed to  slide  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  slope.  When  required 
for  dimension  stone  the  large  blocks  are  loaded  onto  trucks  and 


Washington  Geological  Survey. 


Annual  Report,  1901.  Plate  X. 


TEN1NO  SANDSTONE  QUARRY. 


MILL  FOR  SAWING  STONE.  TENINO  SANDSTONE  QUARRY. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


7 


run  into  the  mill  where  they  are  sawed  into  the  required  sizes  by 
sets  of  gang  saws.  The  mill  is  supplied  with  two  sets  of  gang 
saws,  and  is  run  by  steam  power.  A half  dozen  or  more  slabs 
are  sawed  at  the  same  time,  the  number  depending  upon  the 
thickness.  The  sawing  is  so  arranged  that  when  the  stone  is 
put  into  a building  the  bedding  planes  shall  lie  flat.  Most  of 
the  orders  call  for  sawed  stone  of  specified  size. 

The  quarry  was  first  opened  up  by  Mr.  Henry  Roeder.  He 
began  operations  at  a point  a short  distance  south  of  the  present 
workings  in  the  early  seventies  and  moved  to  the  present  loca- 
tion at  a much  later  date. 

The  following  are  a few  of  the  important  buildings  constructed 
wholly  or  in  part  of  this  stone:  U.  S.  custom  house,  Port  Town- 
send; U.  S.  custom  house,  Portland,  Oregon;  court  house  build- 
ing, Port  Townsend;  Dexter  Horton  building,  Seattle;  new  high 
school  building,  Seattle;  Thurston  county  court  house,  now  the 
state  capitol,  Olympia. 

Sucia  Island. 

On  Sucia  island,  the  most  northern  one  of  the  San  Juan 
group,  a quarry  was  opened  some  years  ago  in  a dark  brown 
sandstone  of  Cretaceous  age.  The  quarry  is  located  on  the 
water’s  edge  so  that  deep  water  vessels  may  land  alongside  and 
the  stone  hoisted  by  derrick  from  the  quarry  to  the  deck  of  the 
vessel. 

The  stone  is  a hard,  massive  sandstone  of  such  very  coarse  tex- 
ture that  it  approaches  a grit.  It  is  not  an  easy  stone  to  work 
and  is  probably  more  suitable  for  heavy  masonry  work  than  for 
ordinary  building  purposes.  The  United  States  drydock  at  Port 
Orchard  was  constructed  of  stone  from  this  quarry. 

Tenino. 

By  Mllnor  Roberts. 

At  a number  of  points  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tenino,  fifteen 
miles  southeast  of  Olympia,  the  Eocene  sandstone  has  been 
quarried  as  a building  stone  for  a number  of  years.  In  some  of 
the  pits  that  have  been  opened,  while  the  stone  is  of  excellent 
quality  in  small  masses,  it  occurs  interbedded  with  thin  layers 
of  shale  or  lines  of  very  hard  concretions,  which  reduce  or  com- 
pletely destroy  its  commercial  value.  Coal  is  found  near  by  in 
the  same  geological  horizon. 


8 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey . 


The  only  quarries  in  this  region  that  are  being  worked  at 
present  are  in  a group  at  Tenino,  controlled  by  Messrs.  Russell 
and  Fenton.  Stone  was  first  taken  out  in  1889,  since  which 
time  the  output  has  been  practically  continuous,  amounting  to  a 
gross  total  of  one  and  one-third  million  cubic  feet.  As  almost 
every  cubic  foot  of  the  stone  is  of  a quality  fit  for  the  market 
and  the  waste  in  handling  is  slight,  the  yield  of  the  quarries  to 
date  is  seen  to  have  been  considerable.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
what  are  the  limits  within  which  stone  of  the  same  lithological 
character  may  be  found,  since  prospecting  and  development 
alone  can  prove  that,  but  the  indications  are  that  it  occurs  in 
abundance. 

The  stone  is  a rather  fine-grained  sandstone,  light  greenish 
gray  in  color,  free  from  inclusions  and  of  an  even  texture.  The 
composition  is  given  as  follows  : 

Silica 74.00  per  cent.  Oxide  of  Iron 6.65  per  cent. 

Alumina 13.51  per  cent.  Calcium  oxide 3.61  per  cent. 

Magnesium  oxide 1.65  per  cent.  Sulphur  trioxide none. 

Phosporous  pentoxide none. 

A sample  was  tested  by  the  ordnance  department  of  the 
United  States  army  at  the  Watertown  arsenal  July  3,  1893  — 
compression  test  No.  9256.  The  first  crack  occurred  under 
173,000  pounds  pressure,  and  the  ultimate  strength  was  found 
to  be  176,100  pounds,  or  6,879  pounds  per  square  inch.  Under 
the  microscope  the  rock  shows  a large  proportion  of  well-rounded 
grains  of  white  quartz,  about  one-tenth  of  a millimeter  in  diam- 
eter. There  are  some  dark  colored  grains  of  quartz  present, 
along  with  crystals  of  muscovite,  biotite,  hornblende,  and  other 
minerals.  A tendency  to  exhibit  a banded  structure  is  apparent, 
but  it  is  more  noticeable  in  large  masses  in  the  quarry  than  in  a 
block  or  hand  specimen.  The  bands  seem  to  be  due  to  layers  of 
finer  and  darker  colored  material,  and  represent  the  bedding 
planes  of  deposition.  The  dip  is  about  15  degrees,  pointing  a 
few  degrees  west  of  south. 

Two  main  quarries  have  been  opened  up  in  the  north  side  of 
a hill,  half  a mile  northeast  of  the  station  of  Tenino,  on  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway  (from  which  a spur  enters  the  yards). 
The  larger  pit,  used  as  a reservoir  at  present,  extends  225  feet 
along  the  hillside,  is  over  100  feet  wide,  50  feet  deep  at  the  back, 
and  25  feet  deep  in  front,  the  difference  being  due  to  the  slope  of 
the  surface.  The  newer  pit,  a few  steps  distant  to  the  north- 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


9 


west,  is  180  feet  long  east  and  west,  85  feet  wide  and  about  30 
feet  deep.  A swinging  crane  with  70-foot  boom  stands  on  the 
edge  of  this  pit  in  the  middle  of  the  south  side. 

The  stone  is  cut  out  by  two  steam  channelers  into  blocks  four 
and  one-half  feet  thick.  A line  of  track  made  in  permanent  sec- 
tions is  laid  along  the  floor  close  to  the  wall.  The  channeler, 
which  carries  its  own  boiler  and  engine,  moves  back  and  forth  on 
the  track  for  a distance  of  twenty  feet,  while  the  chisels  work  in 
vertical  grooves  with  a steady  stream  of  water  running  in.  Ten 
or  twelve  cuts  are  needed  to  reach  a depth  of  54  inches,  occupy- 
ing from  half  an  hour  to  an  hour’s  time.  When  grooves  have 
been  cut  along  the  whole  length  of  track,  the  channeler  is  lifted 
by  the  crane  and  the  track  relaid  for  a parallel  line  of  cuts. 
Other  grooves  are  cut  similarly  at  right  angles  to  these,  then  the 
blocks  are  loosened  by  wedges  driven  in  at  the  bottom.  The 
crane  hoists  the  blocks  out  of  the  pit,  and  places  them  on  a small 
flat  car,  turning  them  on  edge  if  they  are  to  be  cut  by  the  gang 
saws.  This  is  done  in  order  that  the  sawn  blocks  when  used  in 
masonry  shall  lie  in  the  same  relative  position  as  in  the  quarry. 

The  gang  saws  are  four  in  number,  carrying  from  one  to 
eight  saws  apiece.  Each  saw  is  simply  a flat  piece  of  steel,  ten 
feet  long,  five  inches  wide  and  three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  thick, 
without  teeth,  and  depending  for  its  cutting  power  upon  the 
speed  with  which  it  runs,  and  upon  an  abrasive  in  the  form  of 
coarse  steel  filings,  fed  with  water  into  the  cut.  The  saws  are 
set  on  edge,  parallel,  to  cut  downwards,  and  are  bolted  at  the 
ends  like  a bucksaw,  the  distance  separating  any  two  saws  de- 
termining the  thickness  of  the  slab.  The  rectangular  frame  that 
holds  them  is  swung  from  a shaft  placed  at  right  angles  to  the 
line  of  cut.  The  shaft  may  be  raised  or  lowered  by  means  of  a 
positive  feed  gear.  The  gangsaw  is  driven  by  a rod  connected 
directly  with  the  piston  of  a steam  cylinder.  The  limit  of  speed 
in  cutting  depends  upon  the  rate  at  which  the  saws  may  be 
forced  down  against  the  stone  without  buckling.  An  average  of 
more  than  one  foot  per  hour  is  usual,  but  with  plenty  of  steam 
and  careful  feeding  of  the  steel  filings,  a speed  of  two  feet  may 
be  attained. 

That  the  sawing  is  not  the  most  expensive  part  of  the  quarry- 
man’s  work  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  slabs  one  foot 
thick  sell  at  the  rate  of  45  cents  per  superficial  foot,  eight  inches 


10 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


thick  at  35  cents,  four  inches  thick  at  20  cents,  and  two-inch 
slabs  at  16  cents  per  square  foot  of  surface.  When  large  quan- 
tities of  a certain  sized  stone  are  ordered  it  may  be  produced 
much  cheaper  than  this.  It  is  the  custom  here,  as  elsewhere,  to 
cut  stone  at  the  quarry  to  the  proper  size  ready  for  placing  in 
the  building,  mainly  to  save  freight  on  waste  material.  About 
thirty  or  forty  men  are  employed,  the  number  depending  on  the 
orders  at  hand. 

TheTenino  sandstone  has  been  used  in  many  large  buildings 
throughout  the  state  and  in  Oregon  and  California,  both  as  the 
principal  material  of  construction  and  as  a finishing  stone.  The 
State  capitol  now  under  construction,  the  Bailey  building  in 
Seattle,  Calvary  Presbyterian  Church  in  San  Francisco,  and 
several  business  blocks  in  coast  cities  may  be  cited  as  examples. 
The  stone  seems  to  harden  on  exposure  and  wears  well.  Its 
refractory  nature  is  proved  by  its  continued  use  under  boilers 
and  as  a lining  for  open  fireplaces.  Other  uses  to  which  it  has 
been  put  with  satisfactory  results  are  as  an  ornamental  stone  for 
fountains,  monuments  and  mantels,  and  in  the  shape  of  rubble 
or  quarry  waste  to  form  concrete. 

Wilkeson. 

The  Wilkeson  quarry  is  the  property  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railway  Company  and  is  situated  at  the  town  of  Wilkeson, 
Pierce  county.  The  rock  is  a sandstone  belonging  to  the  coal 
series.  It  is  bluish-gray  in  color  and  is  streaked  with  brown 
iron  rust  and  carbonaceous  matter.  When  found  free  from 
these  defects  it  has  a fresh  pleasing  appearance  and  makes  a 
hard,  substantial  building  stone,  but  it  is  difficult  to  get  a large 
quantity  of  it  that  is  uniform  in  color  and  texture.  The  quarry 
has  not  been  in  active  operation  for  the  last  seven  or  eight  years. 
Occasionally  the  railway  company  quarries  some  of  the  stone  for 
its  own  use,  but  does  not  place  any  of  it  on  the  market. 

SERPENTINE  QUARRIES. 

Valley. 

The  United  States  Marble  Company,  of  Spokane,  is  operat- 
ing a serpentine  quarry  near  Valley,  about  fifty  miles  north  of 
Spokane,  on  the  line  of  the  Spokane  Falls  & Northern  Railway. 
It  is  the  largest  quarry  in  the  state,  both  in  the  number  of  men 


QUARRY  OF  U.  S.  MARBLE  COMPANY,  VALLEY 


Washington  GeologicTS*$^rvey.  Annual  Report.  1901  Plate  XI. 


The  Non- Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  11 


employed  and  in  the  value  of  the  output.  It  is  comparatively  a 
new  concern,  only  having  been  in  active  operation  since  July, 
1898,  but  they  have  already  spent  $75,000  in  developing  the 
property  and  in  equiping  the  plant.  The  property  consists  of  a 
compact  group  of  eighteen  claims  on  Greenway  mountain,  in- 
cluding the  serpentine  dike  upon  which  the  quarry  is  located  ; 
also  eighty  acres  of  marble  land  within  a mile  of  the  railroad, 
upon  which  no  work  has  yet  been  done  except  a little  surface 
prospecting.  The  dike  of  serpentine  lies  between  a foot  wall  of 
black  marble  and  a hanging  wall  of  silver  gray  slate,  both  valu- 
able, but  neither  of  which  are  being  worked  at  present.  The 
dike,  which  is  about  six  hundred  feet  wide,  has  been  traced  in 
length  a distance  of  fifteen  hundred  feet  and  has  a known  depth 
of  seven  hundred  feet.  It  varies  in  color  from  light  gray  to 
deep  green,  the  green  being  the  most  valuable.  The  company 
has  given  to  the  latter  the  name  Royal  Washington  serpentine. 
Three  machine  drills  are  now  at  work  in  the  quarry  and  as  soon 
as  the  installation  of  the  new  power  plant  is  completed  the  num- 
ber of  drills  will  be  increased  to  eight.  No  powder  of  any  kind 
is  used  in  quarrying,  as  the  stone  is  too  valuable  to  allow  any  of 
it  to  be  shattered  by  blasting.  It  is  quarried  out  in  as  large 
blocks  as  can  be  readily  handled  by  team,  and  hauled  to  the  mill 
which  is  situated  at  the  base  of  the  mountain.  The  company 
claim  that  they  can  quarry  out  blocks  of  the  Royal  Washington 
of  fifty  tons  weight,  if  necessary.  After  the  blocks  are  quarried 
they  are  loaded  on  a wagon  by  means  of  a derrick  and  taken  to 
the  mill.  The  mill  is  equipped  with  the  very  latest  machinery 
for  sawing,  grinding  and  polishing  the  stone  into  any  desired 
shape.  There  are  two  sets  of  gang  saws,  a rubbing  bed  thirteen 
and  a half  feet  in  diameter,  three  polishing  machines,  four 
lathes,  and  a number  of  other  pieces  of  machinery. 

The  camp,  consisting  of  bunk  house,  kitchen,  office,  barns, 
store  building,  etc.,  is  situated  on  the  mountain  side  several  hun- 
dred feet  below  the  quarry.  The  general  store  not  only  supplies 
the  company's  own  employees,  but  also  does  considerable  busi- 
ness with  the  nearby  mining  camps.  A warehouse  has  been 
built  at  Valley,  where  the  finished  stone  is  stored  awaiting  ship 
ment. 

Since  the  fall  of  1900  the  mill  and  quarry  have  been  operating 
night  and  day  continually  in  an  effort  to  keep  up  with  the 


12 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


orders.  Many  orders  in  fact  have  had  to  be  refused  until  larger 
machinery  could  be  installed.  There  are  now  over  eighty  men 
on  the  company’s  pay  roll  and  they  are  working  on  orders  for 
several  months  ahead.  Most  of  the  orders  are  for  monumental 
and  building  stone,  both  for  interior  and  exterior  finish. 

At  the  Pan-American  Exposition  at  Buffalo  the  company  ex- 
hibited a beautiful  mantle  showing  the  various  colors  and  quali- 
ties of  their  stone.  The  exhibit  was  awarded  a silver  medal. 

The  marble  and  slate  deposits  which  up  to  the  present  time 
have  been  entirely  untouched  offer  a promising  field  for  future 
activity.  The  present  limited  demand  for  these  two  stones  can 
be  largely  increased  and  the  company  is  now  making  prepara- 
tions to  open  up  these  deposits  and  put  the  products  on  the 
market. 

MARBLE  QUARRIES. 

Stevens  County. 

At  a number  of  places  in  Stevens  county  marble  of  an  excel- 
lent quality  and  of  a very  pleasing  color  is  found.  Blocks  of 
large  size  may  be  quarried,  and  a monumental  stone  of  superior 
excellence  obtained.  In  some  instances  the  marble  lies  conven- 
ient to  the  railway  so  that  the  quarry  products  may  be  easily 
shipped  to  market.  A great  deal  of  interest  is  now  being  taken 
in  these  marble  deposits  and  it  is  expected  that  a number  of 
large  quarries  will  soon  be  put  in  operation. 

The  marble  of  Stevens  county  belongs  to  the  ancient  rocks 
now  so  highly  metamorphosed  that  they  have  become  quite  crys- 
talline. Such  rocks  are  characteristic  of  the  northern  Cascades 
and  the  Okanogan  highlands,  extending  eastward  to  the  Idaho 
line.  The  marble  occurs  in  occasional  masses  among  the  gran- 
ites, gneisses,  and  schists  wherever  erosion  has  not  yet  removed 
it. 


Washington  Geological  Survey. 


Annual  Report.  1901.  Plate  XII. 


QUARRY  OF  lT.  S MARBLE  COMPANY.  VALLEY. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  13 


CLAY  MATERIALS, 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  clays  which  are  being  used  in  the  state  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  different  varieties  of  brick,  drain  tile,  sewer  pipe,  terra 
cotta  products,  etc.,  belong  to  several  different  geological  forma- 
tions. The  most  important  clay  deposits  may  be  divided  accord- 
ing to  their  method  of  occurrence  into  glacial  clays,  residual 
clays,  and  clay  shales. 

Glacial  clays  are  found  very  generally  distributed  over  all  of 
the  glaciated  region  of  western  Washington.  They  are  com- 
posed of  the  fine  flour  ground  up  by  the  glacial  ice  and  deposited 
by  streams  in  the  numerous  small  lakes  and  ponds  which 
abounded  throughout  the  region  during  the  time  when  the  ice 
was  disappearing.  The  clay  beds  occur  very  irregularly,  inter- 
stratified  with  sands  and  gravels  or  embedded  in  the  till,  and  the 
quantity  in  any  one  place  is  largely  a matter  of  speculation.  The 
brick  yards  which  utilize  this  clay  are  all  located  either  on  the 
shores  of  the  Sound  or  on  railway  lines  close  to  the  larger  centers 
of  population.  The  clay  is  used  chiefly  in  the  manufacture  of 
common  red  brick,  and  this  industry  has  grown  to  be  one  of  con- 
siderable magnitude.  During  the  year  1901  the  brick  yards  of 
Seattle  alone  made  over  thirty-nine  million  red  brick,  having  a 
total  value  of  nearly  $400,000. 

Residual  clay  is  found  only  in  the  non-glaciated  parts  of  the 
state.  It  is  the  residue  left  after  all  the  soluble  parts  of  a rock 
have  been  carried  away.  In  western  Washington,  between 
Puget  sound  and  the  Columbia  river,  this  clay  is  very  thick  in 
places,  being  formed  largely  by  the  weathering  of  shale.  Shale 
is  merely  consolidated  clay,  so  that  the  line  of  distinction  be- 
tween them  is  not  very  clearly  drawn.  Occasionally  the  clay 
beds  are  not  very  deep,  and  graduate  insensibly  into  the  solid 
shale  beneath. 

In  eastern  Washington  the  fine  residue  left  by  the  decompo- 
sition of  basalt  makes  a very  good  red  brick.  Throughout  most 
of  the  region  where  the  basalt  occurs  the  brick  that  is  used  is 
made  from  this  material.  Small  kilns  are  in  operation  in  a num- 
ber of  places  to  supply  the  local  demand. 


14 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


The  more  expensive  products,  such  as  cream-colored  pressed 
brick,  red  pressed  brick,  vitrified  brick,  drain  and  sewer  pipe, 
and  terra  cotta  articles  are  all  manufactured  from  the  older  shales 
and  clays  which  are  described  in  connection  with  the  different 
manufacturing  plants  which  use  them. 

DENNY  CLAY  COMPANY. 

By  Mtlnob  Roberts. 

The  clays  used  by  the  Denny  Clay  Company,  of  Seattle,  are 
all  obtained  from  the  company’s  mines  at  Kummer  and  Taylor 
on  the  Columbia  & Puget  Sound  Railroad.  At  Kummer,  in 
Green  river  canyon,  the  variety  known  as  4 ‘flint”  clay  is  mined 
from  a seven-foot  vein  at  the  foot  of  an  incline  700  feet  long. 
The  clay  used  for  making  sewer  pipe  occurs  in  a mass  60  feet 
thick,  which  is  treated  just  as  a coal  bed  would  be,  and  mined 
by  breasts.  A tunnel  has  been  driven  in  at  a point  20  feet  above 
the  high  water  mark  of  Green  river.  On  account  of  the  strength 
of  the  clay  wide  breasts  and  small  pillars  have  been  found  safe 
to  use.  At  Taylor,  20  miles  to  the  northeast,  the  quality  of  the 
clay  renders  it  suitable  for  making  pressed  brick,  flue  lining  and 
terra  cotta. 

George  W.  Kummer,  general  manager  of  the  company,  who 
has  been  experimenting  here  for  a dozen  years  past,  and  is  fa- 
miliar with  Eastern  methods  of  manufacture,  has  found  that 
unlimited  combinations  can  be  made  out  of  these  clays,  to  pro- 
duce practically  all  forms  of  brick,  pipe  and  fire-proofing  mate- 
rial. For  instance,  the  highly  refractory  but  non-plastic  “flint” 
fjom  Kummer,  when  mixed  with  a proper  proportion  of  the 
Taylor  clays,  makes  a highly  refractory  yet  strong  fire  brick. 
Again,  as  a matter  of  experiment,  pressed  brick  for  facing  build- 
ings has  been  produced  in  twenty-three  distinct  shades  of  color, 
from  the  seven  different  kinds  of  clay  at  hand.  Doubtless  in 
some  of  these  cases  the  result  has  been  due  to  skillful  handling 
in  the  kiln,  varying  the  degree'  of  heat,  muffling,  using  direct 
fire  or  radiated  heat.  In  burning  a kiln  full  of  brick  it  is  un- 
usual to  find  absolute  uniformity  of  color  throughout,  as  differ- 
ent conditions  may  prevail  in  different  parts  of  the  kiln,  and  for 
similar  reasons  it  is  difficult  to  match  a peculiar  color  with 
exactness. 

In  the  following  analyses,  made  by  W.  J.  Rattle,  of  Cleve- 


The  Non- Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  15 


land,  No.  i is  the  flint  clay  from  Kummer,  Nos.  2 and  3 are 
from  Taylor,  and  No.  4 is  a fine  sand  from  Kummer  which  is 
mixed  with  clays  to  increase  their  percentage  of  silica,  and  add 
solidity  to  the  brick. 


Component  Parts. 

No.  1 

No.  2 

No.  3 

No.  4 
Fire  sand 

Silica 

33.44 

41.36 

72.30 

78.60 

Alumina. 

45.23 

40.49 

19.95 

13.08 

Lime  

1.60 

.62 

.52 

1.22 

Magnesia 

3.61 

Trace 

Trace 

.648 

Iron  peroxide 

1.57 

2.29 

Iron  sesqui  oxide 

.71 

.71 

.114 

Alkalies  

1.44 

.114 

Soda  and  potash. 

1.47 

2.98 

Common  water 

16.44 

15.29 

3.50 

3.30 

The  works  of  the  Denny  Clay  Company  are  situated  one  mile 
southeast  of  Georgetown,  and  six  miles  from  the  center  of 
Seattle  on  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  and  the  elec- 
tric line  to  Tacoma  now  in  process  of  construction. 

Clay  arriving  by  car  from  the  mines  is  piled  under  sheds,, 
each  class  by  itself.  Certain  combinations  of  clays  being  re- 
quired for  certain  products,  the  mixing  is  done  by  taking  the 
proper  number  of  loads  by  wheelbarrow  from  each  pile  and 
feeding  them  together  into  the  crushing  pan.  Coarse  lumps 
are  first  broken  in  a jaw-crusher,  from  which  an  endless  belt 
carries  the  broken  material  to  the  pan.  The  latter  is  a form  of 
Chilian  mill,  consisting  of  a circular  steel  pan  nine  feet  in  diam- 
eter, with  flat  bottom  and  vertical  sides  eighteen  inches  high. 
Power  furnished  to  a central  column  with  bevel  gearing  causes 
the  pan  to  turn  at  the  rate  of  25  to  30  revolutions  per  minute. 
Two  steel-tired  grinding  wheels,  four  feet  in  diameter  and  eight 
inches  thick,  rest  vertically  on  the  bottom  of  the  pan  and  turn 
on  a horizontal  axis  which  is  hung  on  springs.  The  outer  edge 
of  the  pan  bottom  for  a width  of  two  feet  is  a screen  surface, 
with  slotted  openings  one-fourth  inch  by  two  and  one-half 
inches,  radiating  from  the  center.  The  clay  is  both  crushed 
and  ground  by  the  rollers,  and  forced  to  the  outer  edge  of  the 
pan,  where  the  fines  fall  through  the  screen  to  a lower  plate  and 
are  discharged  into  an  elevator.  Stationary  steel  guides  set  in 
the  pan  shunt  the  contents  in  toward  the  center  at  every  turn, 
thus  bringing  back  under  the  grinding  wheels  all  material  that 
fails  to  pass  the  screen. 

The  elevators  used  for  clay  are  canvas  and  rubber  belts  with 


16 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


paddles  attached,  running  in  a trough.  From  the  grinding  pan 
the  fines  are  carried  up  to  the  third  floor  and  run  through  a 
trommel.  The  coarse  is  allowed  to  run  back  over  a long  screen) 
returning  to  the  grinding  pan.  The  size  of  the  mesh  used  in 
the  trommel  and  screens  depends  altogether  on  the  purpose  for 
which  the  clay  is  needed,  but  ordinarily  it  varies  from  ten  to 
twenty  holes  per  linear  inch.  Screened  clay  falls  through  a 
chute  to  the  mixing  or  “wet”  pans,  two  in  number,  placed  side 
by  side  and  handled  by  one  man.  The  apparently  simple  work 
of  tempering  the  clay  by  mixing  with  water,  in  reality  requires 
great  experience  in  handling  clays,  and  a knowledge  of  their 
physical  properties,  especially  their  plasticity,  therefore  the  man 
who  fills  the  position  of  mixer  is  more  responsible  than  anyone 
else  for  the  burning  and  wearing  qualities  of  the  product.  The 
pans  are  similar  in  construction  to  the  grinding  pan,  but  as  there 
is  no  outlet  for  the  mixture  through  the  bottom,  a long-handled 
scoop  set  on  a pivot  is  used  to  raise  the  tempered  clay  and 
dump  it  into  an  elevator. 

The  main  building  in  which  the  brick  and  pipe  presses  are 
placed  measures  80  by  150  feet  and  is  three  stories  high.  A 
complete  heating  plant  with  steam  radiator  pipes  under  the  first 
floor  keeps  the  air  in  the  building  at  the  proper  temperature  for 
drying  green  material.  The  engine  and  boiler  plant  in  an  ad- 
joining building  generates  300  nominal  horse  power.  In  order 
that  the  buildings  may  be  free  from  the  jar  caused  by  the  work- 
ing of  heavy  machinery  and  the  revolution  of  the  line  shaft,  the 
latter  is  supported  on  several  blocks  of  concrete  weighing  ten 
tons  each  set  in  the  ground,  and  the  mixing  pans  have  similar 
foundations.  Fourteen  down-draft  circular  kilns  are  in  use, 
some  of  them  being  of  unusual  size,  34  feet  in  internal  diameter. 
The  fuel  is  obtained  from  a coal  bed  overlying  the  clay  in  the 
company’s  mine  at  Taylor. 

The  total  force  of  men  employed  numbers  145,  of  whom  two- 
thirds  are  at  the  works,  and  the  rest  in  the  mines.  The  main 
products  of  the  works  are  as  follows: 

Pressed  facing  brick,  made  in  a number  of  different  shades  as  above 
stated.  Standard  colors  are  kept  on  hand  in  large  supply,  and  others 
are  made  to  order.  This  brick  finds  a market  in  Seattle,  Tacoma,  Vic- 
toria, Vancouver,  Spokane,  Walla  Walla,  and  Portland. 

Vitrified  or  annealed  paving  brick,  for  street  paving.  Annealed 
and  glazed  brick  is  rapidly  growing  in  favor  as  a street  paving  material, 


DENNY  CLAY  WORKS,  SEATTLE. 


Washington  Geological,  Survey.  Annual  Report.  1901.  Plate  XIV. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


17 


owing”  to  its  great  strength  and  durability  under  heavy  traffic,  its 
smoothness,  cheapness  and  the  speed  with  which  it  can  be  laid. 

Report  op  Mechanical  Tests, 

Made  with  the  U.  S.  testing  machine  (capacity  800,000  pounds)  at  Watertown  Arsenal, 
Mass.,  June  13, 1894.— Material  contributed  by  the  Denny  Clay  Co.,  at  the  World’s 
Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago,  Illinois. 


1 Dimen- 
sions. 

1 

| Is- 

Weight  dry . . . 

1 Absorption 
or  Water. 

$ 

Ultimate 

Strength. 

Description. 

| j Com- 

i §.  | pressed 
Is-  sur- 

| face. 

• i. 

Total . . . 

By 

volume 

By 

weight. 

“1 

Si 

?s- 

Ki 

O* 

§L 

►Q  K, 

In. ! In. 

In. 

sq.in. 

lbs. 

oz. 

oz. 

[Per  Per 
ct.  | ct. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Facing  brick : 

Denny  Clay  Co 

2.458.98 

4.48 

40.23 

6 

13% 

6% 

[ 

5 6 11. oo; 

250,000 

505, 800 

12,573 

Facing  brick : 

Denny  Clay  Co 

2.38  8.89 

4.45 

39.56 

6 

6% 

. 

5.8  11..00 

309, 000 

519,700 

13,137 

♦Vitrified  paving  brick: 
Denny  Clav  Co 

4.23,8.78 

2.70 

23.71 

7 ' 

12% 

* 

0.4  00.861 

49,000 

288,100 

12, 151 

Vitrified  paving  brick:  i 
Denny  Clay  Co 

2.61;8.76 

4.08 

35.74 

7 

12% 

1 

i 

0.8  1.85 

55,000 

761,000 

21,293 

* Tested  on  edge. 


Sewer  pipe,  glazed,  varies  in  diameter  from  3 to  24  inches  inside 
measurement,  length  two  feet. 

Drain  tile,  made  in  one  or  two-foot  lengths,  size  from  2 to  6 inches. 

Chimney  pipe,  tops  and  flues,  made  of  high  grade  fire  clay,  in  all 
necessary  forms. 

Hollow  vitrified  foundation  blocks,  in  two  sizes,  8£  or  12  inches  in 
square  section,  and  from  3 inches  to  3 feet  long.  Being  vitrified,  they 
are  impervious  to  moisture,  while  the  air  space  in  each  block  is  a poor 
conductor  of  heat  from  within  or  cold  from  without. 

Fire  brick,  in  all  the  usual  shapes,  proved  to  possess  excellent  quali- 
ties as  locomotive  brick,  furnace  blocks,  linings,  etc.  The  following 
results  are  from  tests  made  by  J.  W.  Reilley,  major  ordnance  department, 


U.  S.  A.,  Watertown  Arsenal : 

Area  exposed  to  crushing 37.97  square  inches 

Average  weight  under  which  brick  cracked 29.95  tons 

Average  force  required  to  crush  brick 52.49  tons 

Weight  when  dry 5.135  pounds 

Percentage  of  water  absorbed 12 


Ground  fire  clay.  The  flint  clay  from  Kummer  is  mixed  with  a 
plastic  clay,  and  by  a special  process  of  treatment  is  brought  to  a plastic 
condition,  meanwhile  retaining  its  refractory  qualities.  The  mixture  is 
dried,  pulverized,  and  shipped  in  barrels,  to  be  used  as  a cement  in  lay- 
ing fire  brick.  From  five  to  seven  hundred  pounds  are  required  to  lay 
one  thousand  brick,  making  the  joints  as  thin  as  possible. 

Sidewalk  and  floor  tile,  both  plain  and  ornamental,  partition  tile  of 
fire  clay,  ornamental  ware,  terra  cotta,  etc.  Two  small  kilns  are  de- 
voted to  the  manufacture  of  such  ware. 

Acid  brick,  made  from  very  siliceous  clays  free  from  alkalies,  for 
special  use  in  acid  and  powder  works. 


18 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


LITTLE  FALLS  FIRE  CLAY  COMPANY. 

By  Milnor  Roberts. 

Along  the  Cowlitz  river,  a few  miles  above  the  crossing  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railway  at  Olequa,  and  two  miles  east  of  the 
station  of  Little  Falls  or  Sopenah,  an  excellent  exposure  of  clay 
shale  occurs  in  the  west  bank  of  the  river.  At  several  points  in 
its  southerly  course  the  stream  has  reached  the  western  border  of 
the  bottom  lands  of  its  valley,  where  the  strong  current  swinging 
against  the  bordering  hills  has  cut  away  the  lower  banks  and  left 
escarpments  several  hundred  yards  long  and  thirty  or  forty  feet 
high.  Here  may  be  seen  sandstones  interbedded  with  shales, 
both  arenaceous  and  argillaceous,  containing  numerous  fossils 
probably  of  Pliocene  age.  A portion  of  the  shale  has  a finely 
laminated  structure,  but  much  of  it  is  massive,  in  this  case 
usually  containing  inclusions  of  very  hard  sandstone,  fossillifer- 
ous.  Although  land-slips  have  disguised  the  true  bedding  in 
many  places,  the  average  dip  seems  to  be  from  two  to  ten  de- 
grees to  the  northeast.  Several  lines  of  sandstone  boulders  stand 
out  prominently  on  the  face  of  the  cliff,  in  beds  varying  from  a 
few  inches  to  two  feet  in  thickness,  and  in  these  the  fossil  con- 
tents are  much  better  preserved  than  in  the  adjacent  shales. 

Fresh  specimens  of  shale  from  this  locality  are  of  a grayish 
drab  color,  commonly  called  “ blue,”  while  the  same  material, 
when  exposed  on  the  surface  or  along  joint  lines,  turns  to  a light 
brown  shade,  with  coatings  of  red  oxide  of  iron.  Small  amounts 
of  alkaline  sulphates  are  present,  showing  as  efflorescence,  but 
the  usually  common  black  oxide  of  manganese  is  absent.  Mica, 
mostly  muscovite,  is  quite  prevalent,  and  is  especially  noticeable 
in  the  fine  laminated  structure,  where  the  thin  plates  lie  parallel 
to  the  cleavage  of  the  shale.  Columnar  structure  is  sometimes 
shown  in  the  thick  beds  of  shale,  the  columns  being  four  and  five 
sided  usually  (with  irregular  forms  intervening),  having  a diame- 
ter of  a few  inches  only,  and  not  much  greater  length.  Each 
column  is  commonly  coated  with  a layer  of  thoroughly  oxidized 
material,  changing  in  character  towards  the  center,  which  may 
be  of  original  “blue.” 

About  a quarter  of  a mile  northwest  of  the  above  locality,  on 
hilly  ground  rising  from  the  Cowlitz  river,  pits  have  been  opened 
up  in  the  beds,  from  which  several  thousand  yards  of  clay  have 
been  taken  by  the  Little  Falls  Clay  Works.  These  beds  appar- 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


19 


ently  overlie  those  on  the  river,  and  their  geological  horizon  is 
probably  not  distinct,  although  no  connection  can  be  traced  ac- 
curately at  the  present  time.  Some  difficulty  is  experienced  in 
working  the  pits,  as  water  accumulates  in  all  the  hollows,  owing 
to  the  impervious  character  of  the  beds,  and  in  the  spring  season 
when  the  whole  ground  is  saturated,  slides  are  frequent,  bring- 
ing down  the  overlying  gravel  and  debris  of  timber,  thus  cover- 
ing the  working  face.  The  method  of  working  is  very  simple. 
A level  floor  with  a tramway  is  graded  in  the  face  of  the  hill, 
and  the  material  is  broken  down  with  picks  directly  into  cars. 
Nodules  and  boulders  are  thrown  on  the  dump,  along  with  un- 
suitable clay,  gravel,  etc.  For  the  most  part,  a pick  is  found 
to  be  the  best  tool  for  the  work  on  account  of  the  easy  breaking 
due  to  the  joints  and  columns,  but  occasionally  a large  mass  is 
loosened  or  thrown  down  with  a charge  of  low-grade  giant  pow- 
der. Certain  layers  occur  here  which  contain  iron  in  such  quan- 
tities as  to  give  them  a rather  brilliant  orange-red  appearance. 
Some  of  the  layers  of  the  blue  are  practically  unweathered  and 
have  the  same  appearance  throughout. 

Pits  have  been  opened  at  other  localities  in  this  region, 
yielding  clays  of  economic  value.  Especially  good  clay,  both 
blue  and  white,  has  been  obtained  in  the  valley  of  the  Cowlitz 
river,  about  four  miles  above  the  place  described. 

In  the  year  1891,  the  Washington  Fire  Clay  Company  began 
the  manufacture  of  brick  and  pottery  at  Sopenah,  a station  on 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  midway  between  Tacoma  and 
Portland.  During  the  years  1894-5  the  works  lay  idle,  but  since 
that  time  have  been  running  quite  steadily,  for  the  past  three 
years  under  the  name  of  the  Little  Falls  Fire  Clay  Company. 

A tramway  nearly  two  miles  long  leads  from  the  works  to  the 
pits  described  above.  Owing  to  the  grades  on  the  line,  a car 
carrying  one  and  one-half  tons  is  found  to  be  a full  load  for  a 
horse  to  pull.  Clay  has  also  been  brought  by  wagon  from  pits 
further  up  the  Cowlitz  river  and  other  points  near  at  hand,  as 
well  as  from  Gale  creek. 

The  company’s  works  are  very  compact,  all  the  manufactur- 
ing and  drying  being  done  under  a single  roof,  while  the  kilns 
are  placed  under  an  adjoining  shed.  The  main  building  is  of 
brick,  three  stories  high,  and  has  an  inside  measurement  of  80 
by  250  feet,  giving  a total  floor  surface  of  60,000  square  feet. 

2 — III 


20  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


As  the  main  purpose  of  such  a large  building  is  to  give  drying 
room,  the  builders  kept  that  idea  in  mind  throughout  its  con- 
struction. The  flooring  is  of  i ^4 -inch  stuff,  set  three-eighths  of 
an  inch  apart,  thus  allowing  free  circulation  of  air  from  base- 
ment to  roof.  The  heating  plant,  located  in  the  basement  and 
ground  floor  at  the  center  of  the  west  side,  consists  of  two  re- 
turn tubular  boilers  (66  inches  by  16  feet,  with  56  flues  apiece), 
connected  at  the  bottom  by  a mud  drum  and  at  the  top  by  a 
steam  dome  28  inches  by  12  feet.  Two  supply  pipes,  i)^-inch 
diameter,  carry  live  steam  to  two  8-inch  headers,  placed  one  in 
each  end  of  the  building,  from  which  radiator  pipes  extend  the 
whole  length  of  the  building,  250  feet,  at  intervals  of  six  inches 
or  less,  making  a total  length  of  over  seven  miles  of  pipe.  This 
great  radiating  surface  serves  to  keep  a volume  of  warm  air  cir- 
culating through  the  whole  building  aided  by  the  spaced  flooring. 
The  drip  of  the  dead  steam  returns  by  gravity  to  the  boiler 
room  and  is  pumped  while  hot  into  the  boilers. 

A 6-inch  pipe  supplies  steam  to  the  engine,  a Nordberg  Cor- 
liss, 16  by  36  inches.  The  main  line  shaft  runs  part  way  across 
the  center  of  the  building  on  the  first  floor.  The  brick  presses 
are  also  on  the  first  floor.  The  remainder  is  used  as  a drying 
floor,  where  the  brick  and  tile  receive  their  final  drying  before 
going  to  the  kilns.  Drain  tile,  sewer  pipe  and  flue  lining  are 
made  in  a press  on  the  second  floor ; the  steam  cylinder  which 
furnishes  the  compressing  power  is  set  between  floors,  and  the 
tempered  clay  is  fed  into  the  press  on  the  third  floor,  where  the 
screening  machinery  is  placed.  The  company’s  office  occupies 
the  southeast  corner  of  the  second  floor.  On  account  of  the 
fact  that  the  drying  of  the  pressed  material  must  be  done  slowly 
and  carefully  at  first,  to  avoid  cracking,  it  is  customary  to  send 
the  products  of  the  presses  up  to  the  third  floor,  farthest  re- 
moved from  the  steam  pipes,  where,  after  two  days’  drying,  the 
necessary  trimming  is  performed. 

The  clay  brought  from  the  pits  in  tram  cars,  is  dumped  in 
heaps  under  sheds,  each  class  by  itself.  It  is  then  wheeled  to 
the  grinding  pan  and  after  being  crushed  is  elevated  to  the  third 
floor,  screened  through  a trommel,  and  sent  down  to  the  mixing 
or  wet  pans. 

Clay  that  has  been  mixed,  screened  and  tempered  to  a proper 
degree  of  plasticity  for  pipe  making,  is  elevated  to  the  third  floor 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  21 


and  there  fed  to  the  steam  press.  A 4-inch  pipe  supplies  steam 
at  a 95  pounds  pressure  to  a cylinder  44  by  36  inches.  Under 
this  enormous  pressure  the  moist  clay  is  easily  forced  down 
through  the  mould.  For  making  sewer  pipe  a “former”  is  set 
at  the  bottom  of  the  mould  to  form  the  joint  head  or  shoulder  of 
the  pipe.  Steam  is  let  into  the  cylinder  until  the  triple  piston 
rods  are  forced  down  a few  inches,  filling  the  “former”  with 
with  clay.  Next,  the  “former”  is  lowered  and  swung  aside, 
steam  is  again  admitted  and  enough  clay  is  squeezed  down 
through  the  mould  to  give  a length  of  29  or  30  inches  to  the 
pipe.  Steam  is  shut  off,  the  pipe  is  cut  by  a jack-knife  folding 
up  inside  the  mould,  and  the  pipe  is  placed  on  a truck  and  hauled 
to  the  drying  floor.  The  “former”  is  greased  and  swung  back 
into  position  ready  for  another  length.  Four  men  are  required 
to  handle  the  pipe  press,  one  to  regulate  the  steam  in  the  cylin- 
der, one  to  handle  the  “former,”  and  two  to  cut  and  lift  off  the 
finished  pipe. 

In  making  drain  tile,  or  any  straight  pipe  without  a shoulder, 
great  speed  may  be  attained.  As  many  as  2,500  pieces  of  tile 
of  four  inches  inside  diameter  can  be  turned  out  on  a single  press 
in  one  day.  One  thousand  five  hundred  would  be  a good  day’s 
run  of  3-inch  pipe,  1,000  for  8-inch,  while  in  making  the  heavy 
2-foot  sewer  pipe  200  pieces  is  about  the  working  limit  for  ten 
hours’  time.  All  these  sizes  are  made  on  the  same  press,  by 
changing  the  mould.  After  drying  for  two  days,  the  pipe  goes 
to  the  hands  of  the  finisher,  who  cuts  and  fits  the  elbows,  and 
trims  to  proper  length,  allowing  for  a shrinkage  of  one  inch  in 
eight,  so  that  the  burned  pipe  shall  be  two  feet  long.  Ten  days 
or  two  weeks  is  required  for  the  final  drying. 

Paving  brick  which  is  to  undergo  vitrification  is  formed  in  a 
somewhat  similar  manner.  A horizontal  steam  press  forces  a 
steady  stream  of  clay  through  two  moulds  side  by  side,  with 
opening  2)4  by  4 )4  inches.  As  the  stream  of  moulded  clay 
issues  it  is  cut  into  9-inch  lengths  by  means  of  a revolving  wheel 
carrying  pieces  of  fine  steel  wire  stretched  taut.  An  endless  belt 
conveys  the  bricks  to  another  machine  where  they  are  pressed 
again.  Dry  pressed  brick  is  made  by  running  rather  dry  clay 
into  separate  moulds,  which  are  subjected  to  a high  steam  pres- 
sure. Special  tempering  is  required,  in  order  that  the  brick 


22  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


shall  be  stiff  enough  to  hold  a sharp  edge,  but  will  not  crack  on 
drying  after  being  greatly  compressed. 

Six  kilns  are  in  use  at  the  Little  Falls  works,  all  of  them  cir- 
cular, 30  feet  in  diameter,  12  feet  to  the  crown  inside,  with  10 
or  12  fireplaces  apiece.  Down-draft  is  obtained  by  means  of 
“bags,”  which  direct  the  heat  from  each  fire  against  the  crown; 
the  floor  is  built  of  spaced  brick,  through  which  the  air  is  drawn 
to  underground  flues  leading  to  stacks  65  feet  high,  one  for  each 
pair  of  kilns.  Sewer  pipe  is  stacked  in  the  kilns  on  end,  three 
rows  high,  and  burned  for  about  six  days.  “Try-pieces”  of 
clay  are  placed  inside  near  the  door,  where  they  can  be  removed 
by  taking  out  a plug  in  the  door.  The  kiln  man  in  charge  of 
the  burning  is  thus  able  to  tell  its  rate  of  progress.  At  the  fin- 
ishing point  of  the  burning,  vitrification  is  caused  by  scattering 
one  or  two  shovelfuls  of  salt  over  each  fire,  using  about  200 
pounds  to  a kiln.  Three  or  four  hours  later  the  process  is  com- 
pleted and  the  kiln  may  be  opened  gradually,  cooling  through- 
out in  three  days.  Pipe  that  has  entered  the  kiln  in  a “green” 
state,  that  is,  not  thoroughly  dry,  usually  shows  white  streaks 
and  blotches  on  its  surface,  and  fails  to  vitrify. 

Dry  pressed  brick  is  heated  slowly  and  burned  carefully  for 
ten  or  twelve  days,  the  time  varying  with  the  character  of  the 
clay  and  the  amount  of  heat  it  requires.  Both  pipe  and  brick 
attain  a white  heat,  from  which  the  brick  will  not  cool  in  less 
than  four  days,  on  account  of  absoption  due  to  thickness.  Sec- 
tions of  pipe  are  nested,  the  small  within  the  large,  giving  a kiln 
capacity  of  more  than  one  thousand  pieces. 

The  following  figures  showing  the  output  of  the  Little  Falls 
Fire  Clay  Company  for  the  year  1901  were  furnished  by  the 
manager,  Mr.  R.  P.  Bradley : 


Total  feet  of  sewer  pipe,  all  sizes 136,196 

Branches,  2-foot  lengths,  all  sizes 3,376 

Curves  and  elbows,  all  sizes 1,363 

Other  sewer  pipe  fittings,  pieces 127 

Feet  of  diain  tile,  3-in.  to  8-in 24,483 

Paving  brick 106,400 

Face  brick,  dry  press 228, 500 

Fire  brick 10, 500 


WASHINGTON  BRICK,  LIME  AND  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY. 

Beside  the  plants  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  common 
brick  for  the  Spokane  market  there  are  several  companies  turn- 


PLANT  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  BRICK.  LIME  AND  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY  AT  CLAYTON. 


Washington  Geological,  Survey.  Annual  Report.  1901.  Pi  ate  XV. 


The  Non- Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


23 


ing  out  high  grade  clay  products  whose  market  is  not  by  any 
means  confined  to  that  immediate  vicinity.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  is  the  Washington  Brick,  Lime  and  Manufacturing 
Company  with  headquarters  at  Spokane  and  works  at  Springdale 
and  Clayton,  Stevens  county,  and  at  Freeman,  Spokane  county. 
The  plant  at  Springdale  is  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  lime 
and  has  been  described  under  that  heading.  The  Clayton  works, 
situated  on  the  line  of  the  Spokane  Falls  & Northern  Railway 
about  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Spokane,  is  the  most  important 
of  the  company’s  plants.  There  is  here  a fully  equipped  clay 
manufacturing  plant  employing  seventy  men,  engaged  in  the 
production  of  common  and  pressed  brick,  architectural  terra 
cotta,  fire  proofing  and  drain  tile.  The  market  for  their  product 
includes  all  the  larger  towns  and  cities  of  Montana,  Idaho, 
Washington,  British  Columbia  and  Oregon.  Numerous  recent 
orders  from  Seattle,  Boise  and  elsewhere  have  kept  them  run- 
ning at  full  time.  Fire  proofiing  and  terra  cotta  for  the  new 
Great  Northern  depot  at  Spokane  and  the  Masonic  temple  at 
Butte  are  among  the  most  recent  orders  filled. 

The  Freeman  plant,  on  the  O.  R.  & N.  Railway  about  fifteen 
miles  southeast  of  Spokane,  manufactures  common  and  fire  brick 
of  superior  quality.  There  are  about  forty  men  employed  about 
the  works.  (H.  Brooke.) 


24  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


LIMESTONE* 


INTRODUCTION. 

Limestone  suitable  for  lime-burning  has  been  discovered  at 
many  places  in  Washington.  It  is  found  in  a crystalline  condi- 
tion among  the  ancient  rocks  of  the  Okanogan  highlands  and  the 
northern  Cascades ; and  well-known  deposits  of  it  occur  on  both 
San  Juan  and  Orcas  islands.  Wherever  it  is  found  it  is  wholly 
or  partly  converted  into  marble,  and  always  gives  evidence  of 
much  metamorphism.  As  a rule  the  limestone  is  a very  pure 
calcium  carbonate,  although  magnesium  carbonate  is  sometimes 
present. 

Lime  belongs  to  that  class  of  heavier  building  materials  which 
can  not  stand  the  expense  of  long  transportation,  especially  the 
usually  heavy  expense  of  land  transportation.  Lime  weighs  so 
much  in  proportion  to  its  value  that  freight  charges  soon  increase 
the  price  until  the  latter  becomes  prohibitive.  For  this  reason 
we  find  a number  of  small  kilns  scattered  about  the  state  supply- 
ing the  local  markets,  especially  in  the  interior.  Some  of  our 
lime  kilns,  however,  are  so  conveniently  situated  in  regard  to 
cheap  water  transportation  that  they  are  able  to  supply  a much 
more  extended  market  and  are  consequently  able  to  conduct 
operations  on  a very  large  scale.  The  lime-burning  industry  is 
more  than  keeping  pace  with  the  industrial  development  of  the 
state  along  other  lines.  Not  only  are  we  able  to  supply  all  local 
demands,  but  we  are  also  able  to  make  heavy  shipments  to  points 
outside  the  state. 

SAN  JUAN  ISLANDS. 

The  San  Juan  islands  are  the  center  of  the  lime  burning  in- 
dustry of  western  Washington.  The  principal  plant  on  the 
islands,  the  Roche  Harbor  lime  works,  is  the  biggest  concern 
of  its  kind  in  the  state,  if  not  on  the  Pacific  coast.  It  manufac- 
tures more  lime  than  all  the  other  kilns  in  the  state  combined. 
Its  output  at  the  present  time  is  about  fifteen  hundred  barrels 
per  day.  The  plant  is  thoroughly  modern  in  every  respect,  and 
is  under  the  very  efficient  management  of  Mr.  John  S.  McMillin, 
the  president  of  the  company.  The  company  has  the  largest 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  25 


deposit  of  pure  limestone  thus  far  discovered  on  the  islands.  It 
extends  all  the  way  across  the  peninsula  from  Roche  Harbor  to 
Westcott  bay,  a distance  of  half  a mile.  The  width  of  the  out- 
crop is  about  eight  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  the  average 
thickness  above  water  level  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  It  ex- 
tends below  water  level  to  an  unknown  depth.  The  quarry  is 
worked  from  a steep  face  close  to  the  water’s  edge  and  at  a suf- 
ficient elevation  to  employ  the  gravity  system.  From  the  time 
the  stone  leaves  its  original  position  in  the  quarry  until  it 
reaches  the  steamer  its  course  is  always  down  hill.  In  the 
quarry  air  drills  are  employed  in  putting  in  the  holes  and  giant 
powder  is  used  in  blasting.  In  work  of  this  character  the  aim  is 
of  course  to  break  as  much  rock  as  possible  with  each  shot  irre- 
spective of  its  fineness  or  coarseness.  The  stone  as  it  is  blasted 
loose  rolls  to  the  bottom  of  the  slope  where  the  larger  pieces  are 
broken  with  a hammer ; the  finely  broken  stone  is  next  loaded 
onto  iron  dump  cars  which  are  then  run  down  an  incline  track 
to  the  chutes  above  the  kilns.  The  stone  is  then  dumped  into 
chutes  each  one  of  which  communicates  with  the  upper  opening 
to  a kiln.  The  stone  is  fed  into  the  kiln  from  above  as  fast  as 
the  burned  lime  is  drawn  off  from  the  bottom.  The  fires  are 
never  allowed  to  go  out  except  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  re- 
line the  furnaces,  which  does  not  occur  very  often.  Each  kiln 
holds  thirty  tons  of  rock. 

The  length  of  time  required  to  turn  limestone  into  lime  de- 
pends on  the  intensity  of  heat  generated  in  the  furnace.  The 
kilns  are  of  the  Monitor  pattern,  consisting  of  two  inner  layers 
of  fire  brick,  an  outer  layer  of  ordinary  red  brick  and  a sheeting 
or  jacket  of  boiler  iron  riveted  together.  Between  the  outer 
layer  of  brick  and  the  jacket  there  is  a space  of  about  two  inches 
filled  with  ashes  and  small  pebbles  to  act  as  a non-conductor  of 
heat  and  also  to  relieve  the  iron  jacket  from  the  strain  caused  by 
the  expansion  of  the  bricks  due  to  the  intense  heating  of  the  in- 
terior. Each  kiln  is  fired  by  two  furnaces,  one  on  each  side, 
and  consumes  about  a cord  and  a half  of  wood  each  day.  Each 
kiln  is  surmounted  by  a smokestack  of  boiler  iron.  These  in- 
crease the  draft  and  so  cause  a more  nearly  perfect  combustion 
of  the  fuel.  By  increasing  the  intensity  of  the  heat  the  smoke- 
stacks reduce  the  time  necessary  to  burn  the  lime  and  thus  add 
to  the  capacity  of  the  plant.  Underneath  the  firebox  there  is  a 


26  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


cooling  receptacle  into  which  the  lime  falls  after  it  has  become 
thoroughly  burned.  There  is  a system  of  cold  air  drafts  in  the 
cooler  which  carries  off  all  the  dust  and  gases  and  greatly  hastens 
the  process  of  cooling.  From  the  cooler  the  lime  is  drawn  through 
a chute  directly  into  barrels  of  a capacity  of  two  hundred  pounds 
each.  The  barrel  stands  on  a platform  scale  as  it  is  being  filled 
and  when  exactly  two  hundred  pounds  have  been  drawn  the  bar- 
rel is  passed  along  and  another  empty  one  takes  its  place.  The 
heads  are  put  in  the  barrels  by  workmen  skilled  in  the  business, 
and  from  them  the  barrels  are  hauled  in  large  trucks  to  the  ware- 
house on  the  docks.  The  company  always  keeps  a reserve  stock 
of  several  thousand  barrels  in  its  warehouse  with  which  to  fill 
emergency  orders  on  short  notice.  There  is  a good  deep  water 
harbor  so  that  vessels  of  the  largest  size  may  come  alongside  of 
the  wharf  and  load.  The  plant  could  not  be  more  favorably  lo- 
cated as  far  as  cheap  water  transportation  is  concerned.  The 
abundance  and  purity  of  the  raw  material,  the  unsurpassed 
transportation  facilities,  and  the  very  efficient  management  are 
the  three  factors  which  have  combined  to  build  up  this  great  in- 
dustry. The  following  analysis  of  the  limestone  shows  in  a 
striking  manner  its  exceptional  purity: 

Per  cent. 


Silica 25 

Iron  and  alumina 80 

Phosphorus 10 

Carbonate  of  lime 98.85 


100.00 

The  company  owns  and  operates  its  own  barrel  factory  on  the 
premises.  Fir  is  the  only  wood  employed  in  making  the  barrels 
and  it  has  been  found  to  be  admirably  suited  for  that  purpose. 

Besides  using  the  limestone  for  the  manufacture  of  lime  the 
company  has  been  shipping  large  quantities  of  the  raw  material 
to  different  smelters  to  be  used  as  a flux  in  their  blast  furnaces. 
The  stone  for  this  purpose  is  run  out  of  the  quarry  on  cars  and 
dumped  into  a long  chute  which  leads  directly  to  the  scows  onto 
which  the  limestone  is  loaded.  The  scows  are  then  towed  by 
means  of  tug  boats  to  their  destination. 

Besides  the  plant  at  Roche  Harbor  there  are  a number  of 
smaller  plants  burning  lime  in  different  parts  of  the  San  Juan 
group  of  islands.  The  chief  drawback  thus  far  encountered  by 
most  of  them  is  that  they  cannot  find  large  bodies  of  good  lime- 
stone. The  stone  occurs  only  in  isolated  fragments  embedded 


ROCHE  HARBOR  LIME  WORKS. 


Washington  Geological  Survey 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  27 


usually  in  an  eruptive  rock.  These  fragments  are  usually  of 
small  size,  the  largest  thus  far  found  being  that  owned  by  the 
Roche  Harbor  Company. 

Henry  Cowell  & Company  have  a plant  of  two  kilns  located 
on  the  west  coast  of  San  Juan  island,  and  about  seven  and  one- 
half  miles  from  Friday  Harbor.  The  plant  has  a capacity  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty  barrels  per  day.  The  kilns  are  built  of 
sandstone  and  limestone,  and  lined  with  a double  row  of  fire 
bricks.  A gravity  track  runs  from  the  quarry  to  the  kilns,  and 
from  the  kilns  to  the  wharf.  Most  of  the  lime  is  shipped  to  the 
cities  and  towns  of  Puget  Sound,  and  to  Portland,  Oregon. 
Occasional  shipments  are  made  to  San  Francisco  and  Hawaii. 

At  several  places  on  Orcas  island,  notably  near  East  Sound 
and  Deer  Harbor,  small  deposits  of  limestone  occur.  Along  the 
water’s  edge  near  these  lime  outcrops  several  kilns  have  been 
built  and  in  them  considerable  lime  has  been  burned.  The  un- 
expected exhaustion  of  the  supply  of  stone  has  caused  some  of 
the  kilns  to  become  idle.  At  the  present  time  lime  is  being 
burned  near  Deer  Harbor  by  two  companies,  one,  the  Eagle 
Lime  Company,  operating  one  kiln  of  120  barrels  capacity,  and 
the  other,  the  Island  Lime  Company,  operating  a kiln  of  80 
barrels  capacity. 

GRANITE  FALLS. 

Three  miles  east  of  Granite  Falls,  on  the  Everett  & Monte 
Cristo  Railway,  is  the  quarry  of  the  Canyon  Lime  and  Cement 
Company.  The  property  embraces  a little  more  than  twenty 
acres,  or  one  full  mining  claim.  The  quarry  is  located  along- 
side the  railway  and  the  stone  is  loaded  directly  onto  the  cars  on 
the  company’s  sidetrack.  The  quarry  has  been  in  operation  for 
a year  and  a half,  and  from  it  at  the  present  time  there  is  being 
shipped  about  sixty  tons  of  limestone  per  day.  Regular  ship- 
ments have  been  made  to  the  Everett  smelter  ever  since  the 
quarry  was  opened.  Shipments  are  also  made  to  Seattle  and 
other  places.  There  is  a first-class  modern  lime-kiln  installed, 
having  a capacity  of  one  hundred  barrels  per  day.  From  three 
to  five  hundred  barrels  of  lime  have  already  been  made  and 
shipped.  An  analysis  of  the  lime  gives  the  following  constitu- 
ents with  the  percentage  of  each:  _ 


silica 0.60 

Iron  oxide 1.15 

Calcium  carbonate 98.43 

Magnesium 0.80 


28  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


SPRINGDALE, 


The  Valley-Brook  White  Lime  Works,  located  at  Springdale, 
Stevens  county,  belongs  to  the  Washington  Brick,  Lime  and 
Manufacturing  Company  of  Spokane.  The  property  consists  of 
about  640  acres  of  land,  and  the  necessary  equipment  and  ma- 
chinery for  the  daily  production  of  500  barrels  of  lime,  which  is 
the  present  output.  The  Spokane  Falls  & Northern  Railway 
passes  through  the  property,  and  the  sidings,  switches,  etc., 
provide  cheap  facilities  for  the  loading  and  transportation  of  the 
lime. 

Wherever  the  solid  rock  formation  outcrops  on  the  com- 
pany’s land  it  is  limestone.  Pits  dug  at  different  points,  and 
cuts  made  where  the  formation  does  not  outcrop,  all  show  that 
limestone  is  the  country  rock  throughout  the  entire  tract. 
Analyses  have  been  made  from  various  outcrops  of  limestone 
with  the  following  general  results  : 

Calcium  carbonate 96  per  cent,  or  more . 

Magnesium  carbonate 3 per  cent,  or  less. 

Silica 1 per  cent,  or  less. 


Total 100  per  cent. 

Analyses  made  from  one  special  quarry,  with  a view  of  sup- 
plying the  paper  mills  with  a high  grade  magnesian  limestone, 
showed  the  contents  given  below : 

Magnesium  carbonate 47  per  cent,  and  under. 

Calcium  carbonate 52  per  cent,  and  over. 

Silica,  a trace  to 1 per  cent. 

Shipments  of  the  magnesian  limestone  were  made  to  the  Wil- 
lamette paper  mills,  and  the  rock  was  found  to  be  well  suited  to 
their  purpose,  but  the  freight  rates  would  not  permit  of  extended 
shipments  at  a profit,  and  so  they  were  discontinued. 

The  equipment  consists  of  four  continuous  kilns,  capacity  500 
barrels  daily,  track,  cars,  and  other  necessary  machinery;  build- 
ings, consisting  of  store  houses,  office,  residences,  etc. 

There  is  a constant  and  growing  demand  for  the  lime  pro- 
duced, but  the  rock  carrying  the  high  percentage  of  magnesium 
carbonate  will  not  be  in  demand  until  paper  mills  or  other  man- 
ufactories are  located  sufficiently  near  so  that  freight  rates  will 
not  interfere  with  its  use,  or  the  rates  to  those  mills  now  using 
it  are  reduced. 

REPUBLIC. 

There  is  a small  lime  kiln  between  Republic  and  Wauconda 
that  has  produced  a considerable  quantity  of  lime  for  local  use. 


Washington  Geological.  Survey. 


Annual  Report.  1901.  Plate  XVII. 


LIME  KILNS.  VALLEY-BROOK  LIME  WORKS.  SPRINGDALE. 


mm 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington . 29 


The  stone  found  here  is  a bluish,  compact  limestone,  checked 
with  light  blue  granular  marble  with  very  little  spar  of  any  sort. 
An  analysis  made  by  S.  G.  Dewsnap  gave  the  following  result: 

Per  cent. 


Calcium  carbonate 98.2 

Silica 6 

Magnesia trace 

Phosphorus trace 

Sulphur trace 

Organic  matter  and  water 1.2 


100.00 


30 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


SOIL S. 


GENERAL  STATEMENT. 


ORIGIN  OF  SOILS. 

The  rocks  which  form  the  crust  of  the  earth  are  everywhere 
at  their  surface  exposed  to  the  disintegrating  action  of  air  and 
water.  Soil  is  simply  the  decomposition  product,  the  insoluble 
residue  left  after  nearly  all  the  soluble  portion  has  been  carried 
away  by  percolating  waters.  It  is  evident  therefore  that  the  ele- 
ments which  constitute  the  soil  must  have  existed  in  some  form 
or  other  in  the  parent  rock.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that 
the  resultant  soil  resembles  in  chemical  composition  the  rock 
from  which  it  was  derived,  in  fact  analyses  usually  show  them  to 
be  widely  dissimilar.  This  is  conspicuously  the  case  in  limestone 
regions  where  the  lime  in  many  cases  has  been  almost  entirely 
leached  out  of  the  soil,  although  forming  the  great  bulk  of  the 
underlying  rocks.  In  these  cases  the  greater  part  of  the  soil  is 
made  up  of  constituents  which  formed  a very  small  portion  of  the 
parent  rock,  and  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  one  foot  of  soil 
usually  represents  the  residue  left  by  the  decomposition  of  a great 
many  feet  of  the  solid  rock. 

Rocks  lying  at  any  considerable  distance  below  the  surface  of 
the  earth  are  protected  from  the  destructive  agencies  of  the  at- 
mosphere, and  undergo  little  or  no  alteration  from  these  causes, 
but  when  in  the  course  of  time  the  rocks  above  them  are  denuded 
and  carried  away  by  the  streams  to  be  re-deposited  somewhere 
else,  then  these  underlying  rocks  are  exposed  in  their  turn.  The 
agents  of  disintegration  which  exist  in  the  atmosphere  and  in  the 
soil  act  usually  from  the  surface  downward,  so  that  it  is  always 
the  surface  of  the  rock  which  is  being  most  attacked  and  any 
cause  which  increases  the  surface  area  accelerates  the  work  of 
destruction.  Thus  the  mechanical  agents  of  air  and  frost  which 
are  at  work  breaking  up  the  rocks  act  as  pioneers  for  the  chemi- 
cal forces  which  follow  them.  Usually,  however,  most  or  all  of 
these  forces  are  working  together  at  the  same  time.  The  agents 
which  are  at  work  disintegrating  the  rocks  may  be  divided  into 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  31 


two  classes  : ist.  Mechanical,  2nd.  Chemical.  Each  of  these 

may  be  subdivided  into  the  forces  of  air,  and  water. 

DISINTEGRATION  OF  ROCKS  BY  MECHANICAL  AGENTS. 

Air.  — The  corrosive  action  of  wind-blown  sand  in  certain 
localities  in  the  Middle  West  has  carved  the  rocks  into  many 
fantastic  shapes.  This  corrosive  action  is  of  course  greatest 
nearest  the  ground,  since  most  of  the  sand  carried  along  by  the 
wind  is  not  raised  far  above  the  surface.  The  result  is  that  the 
bases  of  the  cliffs  are  continually  being  carved  out  until  they 
become  top-heavy  and  topple  over.  In  comparatively  arid  re- 
gions like  certain  parts  of  eastern  Washington  where  the  pre- 
vailing winds  are  from  the  west  or  southwest,  the  result  is  shown 
in  the  form  of  the  hills,  the  side  exposed  to  the  wind  having  its 
fine  material  carried  away  as  fast  as  formed  and  re-deposited  in 
more  protected  places.  The  etching  effect  of  wind-blown  sand 
is  on  the  same  principle  as  the  mechanical  device  known  as  the 
sand  blast,  used  in  certain  industries. 

The  rocks  which  form  the  great  mass  of  the  earth’s  crust  are 
made  up  of  a number  of  minerals,  each  having  a different  coeffi- 
cient of  expansion,  so  that  under  a change  of  temperature  the 
minerals  expand  or  contract  in  different  degrees,  thus  setting  up 
internal  strains  which  tend  to  force  the  particles  apart.  The 
same  disintegrating  effect  may  take  place  in  rocks  of  uniform 
texture  and  composition  due  to  the  unequal  heating  and  cooling 
of  different  parts  of  the  same  rock. 

Water.  — The  mechanical  effect  of  water  from  the  soil-form- 
ing point  of  view  is  nearly  all  of  the  destructive  sort.  The  ul- 
timate fate  of  all  soil  is  to  be  carried  away  and  deposited  in  the 
sea.  The  material  which  forms  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  contin- 
ually going  through  a great  cycle  of  change.  It  passes  from 
solid  rock  to  soil,  is  carried  by  the  sreams  down  to  the  sea,  is 
there  deposited  as  sediment  on  the  sea  floor  and  during  the  suc- 
ceeding ages  is  covered  up  by  sediments  to  a depth  of  perhaps 
many  thousands  of  feet.  When  these  sediments  have  been  hard- 
ened into  rock,  through  causes  little  understood,  they  are  usually 
elevated  until  they  become  parts  of  the  land,  and  the  work  of 
erosion  and  deposition  begins  anew.  We  are  only  concerned 
here,  however,  in  that  stage  when  the  rock  has  crumbled  into 
soil  and  has  not  yet  been  carried  away  to  the  sea. 


32 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


The  journey  of  the  soil  from  the  place  of  origin  to  the  sea  is 
usually  one  of  many  stages.  The  soil  of  steep  hillsides  is  car- 
ried away  almost  as  fast  as  formed  and  deposited  in  the  stream 
bottoms,  where  it  accumulates  often  to  considerable  depths. 
Thus  we  have  transported  soil  in  distinction  to  soil  that  is 
formed  in  situ. 

Frost  is  the  most  powerful  natural  agent  in  the  mechanical 
disintegration  of  rocks.  Water  in  passing  from  the  liquid  to 
the  solid  state  undergoes  a sudden  increase  in  volume  so  that 
ioo  parts  of  water  are  changed  into  109  parts  of  ice.  All  rocks  in 
their  natural  state  are  more  or  less  saturated  with  moisture. 
When  this  freezes,  an  expansive  force  equal  to  1 50  tons  to  the 
square  foot  is  exerted  tending  to  force  the  rock  apart.  * Any  crevi- 
ces which  are  filled  with  water  are  forced  further  apart  when  the 
water  freezes  so  that  the  whole  mass  of  the  rock  is  gradually  torn 
asunder.  This  force  is  most  active  on  cliffs  and  steep  hill  sides 
where  the  blocks  fall  downward  as  they  are  riven  off.  Good  ex- 
amples of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  talus  slopes  at  the  bottom  of 
the  basaltic  cliffs  bordering  the  stream  valleys  of  southeastern 
Washington.  There  the  frost,  combined  with  unequal  heating 
and  cooling,  has  gradually  wedged  off  and  broken  up  the  basalt 
into  angular  blocks  usually  of  a fairly  uniform  size.  In  this  par- 
ticular case  the  cleaving  action  of  frost  seems  to  have  stopped 
at  a certain  point,  beyond  which  further  weathering  is  due  to 
chemical  forces  which  cause  the  blocks  to  crumble  into  fine  dirt. 

DISINTERGATION  OF  ROCKS  BY  CHEMICAL  AGENTS. 

Air. — There  is  no  clear  line  of  distinction  between  the  chem- 
ical changes  effected  by  water  and  those  effected  by  air.  The 
chief  constituents  of  air  by  weight  are  nitrogen  75.66  per  cent., 
oxygen  23  per  cent,  and  varying  small  proportions  of  carbon  di- 
oxide and  water  vapor.  The  nitrogen  is  entirely  inert.  When 
the  air  is  very  dry  neither  the  oxygen  nor  carbon  dioxide  exer- 
cise any  chemical  effect  upon  the  rocks,  but  when  moisture  is 
present  in  the  air  they  become  active  agents  of  disintegration. 
Among  the  minerals  the  feldspars  are  attacked  by  the  carbon  di- 
oxide, and  their  soda,  potash,  and  lime  constituents  are  carried 
away  in  solution,  leaving  a residue  of  kaolin.  Such  minerals  as 
pyroxene,  amphibole,  and  mica  have  their  iron  constituents  oxi- 
dized and  carried  off  in  solution. 


♦Geo.  P.  Merrill:  Rocks,  Rock  Weathering  and  Soils,  p.  198,  New  York,  1897. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  33 


A striking  example  of  how  different  climates  affect  rocks  is 
shown  in  the  rapid  decay  of  the  Egyptian  obelisks  brought  to 
Europe  and  America.  During  the  few  years  since  their  removal 
in  which  they  have  been  exposed  to  the  damp,  changeable  cli- 
mate of  temperate  latitudes,  they  have  decayed  more  than  dur- 
ing all  the  centuries  in  which  they  stood  in  Egypt.  The  dry, 
equable  climate  of  Egypt  affected  them  hardly  at  all. 

Water. — Absolutely  pure  water  has  very  little,  if  any,  solvent 
action  upon  the  minerals  composing  the  rocks,  but  pure  water 
does  not  exist  in  nature.  Meteoric  waters  in  their  passage  from 
the  clouds  to  the  earth  and  into  the  soil  take  into  solution  a 
number  of  acids  and  other  impurities  both  organic  and  inorganic. 
Water  in  this  condition  is  almost  a universal  solvent.  Its  action 
upon  the  rocks  from  day  to  day  is  of  course  imperceptible,  but 
the  total  effect  lasting  through  years  and  centuries  is  very  great. 
The  chief  acids  in  water  which  act  as  solvents  are  carbonic  acid, 
humic,  ulmic,  and  other  organic  acids  which  the  water  takes  up 
in  its  passage  through  the  soil.  One  of  the  principal  effects  of 
water  upon  the  rocks  is  seen  in  the  oxidation  of  the  iron  con- 
stituents of  the  silicates  and  their  removal  by  solution,  leaving 
the  rest  of  the  rock  to  crumble  into  dust.  The  most  insoluble 
constituent  of  the  rock-forming  minerals  is  silica  or  quartz,  so 
that  it  forms  by  far  the  largest  proportion  of  the  residue  after  the 
soluble  portions  of  the  rock  are  carried  away.  The  higher  the 
temperature  the  more  active  are  the  chemical  forces  and  the  more 
rapid  is  the  disintegration  of  the  rocks. 

FERTILITY  OF  SOILS. 

The  fertility  of  soils  is  dependent  upon  : ist,  Chemical  com- 

position ; 2d,  Physical  condition  ; 3d,  Climate.  „ 

CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION. 

A soil  in  order  to  be  fertile  must  contain  all  the  elements 
necessary  for  plant  nutrition  in  adequate  proportions  and  in  solu- 
ble form.  Silica  forms  the  great  bulk  of  all  soils.  In  lesser 
amounts  are  alumina,  iron,  magnesia,  lime,  potash,  soda,  phos- 
phoric acid,  sulphuric  acid  and  nitric  acid.  The  three  ingredi- 
ents which  are  essential  to  plant  growth  and  which  are  most 
likely  to  have  to  be  renewed  are  lime,  potash,  and  phosphoric 
acid.  Potash  in  the  form  of  feldspar  and  phosphoric  acid  in  the 


34 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


form  of  apatite  are  not  available  for  plant  nutrition  because  they 
are  in  an  insoluble  form.  Where  there  is  a large  amount  of  lime 
present  smaller  proportions  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  are 
sufficient  than  where  the  lime  is  in  lesser  quantities,  so  that  in 
many  soils  which  contain  potash  and  phosphoric  acid  in  small 
quantities  all  that  is  necessary  to  insure  permanent  fertility  is  to 
add  lime  to  the  soil,  usually  in  the  form  of  calcium  sulphate  or 
gypsum.  Nitric  acid  in  some  form  is  essential  to  plant  growth. 
The  process  of  nitrification  changes  the  inert  nitrogen  of  the  air 
into  a form  whereby  the  plant  can  assimilate  it. 

All  soil  contains  humus  or  vegetal  mould  in  a greater  or  less 
proportion.  Besides  its  chemical  effect,  it  performs  an  impor- 
tant function  in  keeping  the  soil  loose  and  porous,  and  thus  fa- 
cilitates the  passage  of  moisture. 

PHYSICAL  CONDITION. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a soil  rich  in  all  the  elements  of 
fertility  and  blessed  with  a salubrious  climate  still  obstinately 
refuses  to  yield  good  crops.  This  is  due  to  some  defect  in  its 
physical  condition  whereby  it  is  unable  to  receive  and  retain  the 
requisite  heat  and  moisture.  If  the  particles  composing  a soil 
are  too  coarse  the  water  passes  quickly  through  it,  so  that  in  dry 
weather  vegetation  perishes  for  lack  of  moisture.  This  is  con- 
spicuously the  case  on  some  of  the  gravel  plains  lying  to  the 
southward  of  Tacoma  and  Olympia.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
particles  composing  a soil  are  too  fine  it  becomes  caked  and  im- 
pervious to  moisture.  In  this  condition  it  is  hard  to  cultivate 
and  crops  usually  do  not  thrive. 

CLIMATE. 

In  a general  way  it  may  be  said  that  the  warmer  the  climate 
the  more  luxuriant  the  vegetation,  providing  the  moisture  is  ad- 
equate. Some  plants  require  a hot  growing  season,  but  are 
able  to  stand  a severe  winter,  while  others  require  a more 
equable  temperature  throughout  the  year,  so  that  there  is  no 
very  rigid  standard  of  comparison.  Probably  nowhere  on  the 
American  continent  is  there  a more  striking  instance  of  the 
effect  of  climate  upon  vegetation  than  in  the  state  of  Washing- 
ton. On  the  western  side  of  the  Cascades  the  climate  is  very 
moist  and  there  are  no  great  extremes  of  heat  or  cold.  The  re- 
sult is  that  we  have  here  the  densest  vegetation  of  any  place  on 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  35 


the  continent.  East  of  the  Cascades  there  are  far  greater  ex- 
tremes of  temperature  and  the  rainfall  is  very  slight,  especially 
in  the  central  part  of  the  state.  The  scanty  vegetation  is  all  of 
the  desert  type  — sage  brush,  cactus  and  greasewood.  The  dif- 
ference in  vegetation  between  these  two  parts  of  the  state  is  due 
mostly  to  the  difference  in  the  amount  of  rainfall,  and  to  a much 
lesser  extent  to  the  greater  variations  of  temperature  in  eastern 
Washington. 

For  every  average  temperature  there  is  doubtless  a maximum 
rainfall  beyond  which  any  more  rain  would  not  increase  the  veg- 
etation. It  is  probable  that  this  point  of  saturation  has  been 
reached  in  parts  of  western  Washington,  but  it  is  by  no  means  a 
common  occurrence  in  tropical  and  temperate  climates  and  there 
are  probably  very  few  places  outside  of  the  high  latitudes  where 
an  increase  in  rainfall  would  not  be  followed  by  a greater  luxur- 
iance of  natural  vegetation. 

The  direct  effect  of  winds  upon  vegetation  is  not  great. 
Winds,  however,  affect  temperature  and  rainfall  most  vitally. 
Using  again  as  an  example  the  difference  in  climate  between 
eastern  and  western  Washington,  we  find  that  the  equable  cli- 
mate of  western  Washington  is  due  to  the  warm,  moist,  prevail- 
ing westerly  or  southwesterly  winds  which  blow  off  the  Pacific 
ocean.  It  is  well  known  that  a large  body  of  water  is  not  sub- 
ject to  such  extremes  of  temperature  as  a large  body  of  land,  so 
that  the  winds  which  blow  off  the  ocean  are  warmer  in  winter 
and  cooler  in  summer  than  those  which  blow  off  the  land.  The 
moisture  laden  breezes  of  the  Pacific  pass  over  western  Wash- 
ington and  up  the  slopes  of  the  Cascades  and  down  into  eastern 
Washington.  By  the  time  the  Cascades  are  passed  much  of  the 
moisture  has  been  precipitated  as  rain  or  snow,  and  the  air  has 
been  greatly  cooled  by  passing  over  the  high  altitudes.  It  is 
therefore  dryer  and  cooler. 

WASHINGTON  SOILS. 

SOILS  OF  WESTERN  WASHINGTON. 

The  soils  of  Washington  are  the  result  of  geological  condi- 
tions widely  dissimilar  in  the  different  sections  of  the  state.  All 
of  western  Washington,  except  the  southwestern  part,  is  a re- 
gion that  in  comparatively  recent  geological  times,  has  been 
covered  deep  with  glacial  ice.  The  glaciers  which  filled  the 
3 — III 


36  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


greater  valleys  of  Puget  sound  during  the  geological  period, 
came  from  three  directions.  First,  there  were  the  glaciers  mov- 
ing eastward  from  the  Olympic  mountains  ; second,  the  glaciers 
moving  westward  from  the  Cascades ; and  third,  the  great  south- 
ward moving  body  of  ice  which  came  from  the  mountains  of 
British  Columbia,  and  greatly  exceeded  in  volume  the  other  two 
combined.  The  heterogenous  mass  of  earth  and  rocks  carried 
along  by  these  ice  streams  was  deposited  upon  the  melting  of 
the  ice,  and  now  forms  the  great  mantle  of  drift  which  nearly 
everywhere  covers  the  bed  rock  of  the  Puget  sound  basin.  The 
soil  formed  by  the  weathering  of  this  glacial  material  is  usually 
quite  fertile.  The  soil  of  the  uplands  in  its  virgin  state  supports 
an  exceedingly  heavy  forest  vegetation,  and  when  this  is  cleared 
away  very  good  farm  lands  are  thereby  produced.  The  bottom 
lands  when  not  too  swampy  are  exceedingly  fertile,  and  grow  in 
profusion  all  kinds  of  crops  suitable  to  a temperate  climate. 
These  soils,  owing  to  the  heavy  vegetation  which  they  have  sup- 
ported in  their  unreclaimed  state,  are  very  rich  in  humus  or  veg- 
etal mould.  Here  and  there  throughout  the  glaciated  region 
there  are  are  found  lake  beds,  where  old  lakes  have  become  en- 
tirely silted  or  filled  up.  These  always  have  a very  fertile  soil, 
and  yield  excellent  farms  when  well  drained.  A lake  such  as 
described  once  occupied  the  Snoqualmie  valley  above  the  falls, 
including  the  country  about  the  present  towns  of  North  Bend 
and  Snoqualmie. 

The  larger  streams  flowing  into  Puget  sound  have  flood  plains 
in  their  lower  courses  which  contain  some  of  the  richest  agricul- 
tural lands  in  the  state.  The  Skagit  flats  and  the  White  river 
valley  belong  in  this  category.  The  soil  is  a very  fine  silt  brought 
down  from  the  upper  reaches  of  the  river  and  deposited  a thin 
layer  at  a time,  during  seasons  of  extreme  high  water.  Like  the 
ancient  valley  of  the  Nile  the  fertility  of  the  soil  is  annually  re- 
newed. The  silt  which  fills  the  valley  of  the  White  river  has  been 
brought  down  from  the  muddy  streams  flowing  from  the  glaciers 
of  Mt.  Rainier,  and  like  the  product  of  all  volcanic  rocks,  is  ex- 
tremely rich  in  the  essential  elements  of  fertility. 

The  giant  glaciers  that  were  mentioned  above  did  not  extend 
as  far  south  as  the  Columbia  river,  so  that  in  southwestern 
Washington  there  is  a large  area  where  the  soils  of  the  highlands 
are  composed  of  the  residue  left  by  the  decomposition  of  the 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  37 


rocks  immediately  underlying  them.  The  rocks  here  are  mostly 
sandstones  and  shales  of  the  Tertiary  period,  capped  in  places  by 
basalt.  The  valley  soils  have  been  washed  down  from  the  high- 
lands and  are  probably  nearly  the  same  in  composition  but  finer 
in  texture  and  richer  in  vegetal  mould. 

The  glacial  drift  of  western  Washington  does  not  usually  ex- 
tend up  the  flanks  of  the  Olympic  and  Cascade  mountains  above 
an  altitude  of  two  thousand  feet.  Above  this  the  soils  are  mostly 
residual  and  comparatively  thin  and  probably  will  never  be  of 
any  great  value  for  agricultural  purposes. 

SOILS  OF  EASTERN  WASHINGTON. 

' By  reference  to  the  geological  map  accompanying  this  report 
it  will  be  seen  that  one  of  the  chief  geological  features  of  eastern 
Washington  is  the  vast  lava  plain  extending  from  the  foot  hills 
of  the  Cascade  mountains  to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  state 
and  from  the  Columbia  and  Spokane  rivers  on  the  north  south- 
ward to  Oregon.  The  rock  is  a basalt,  very  rich  in  minerals 
containing  iron,  lime,  potash,  and  phosphoric  acid.  Every- 
where in  this  area  where  the  rock  has  decomposed  sufficiently  to 
form  a soil,  and  the  rainfall  is  at  all  adequate  or  water  can  be 
procured  by  irrigation,  the  land  is  very  fertile  and  is  rapidly 
being  brought  under  cultivation.  The  soil  of  the  highlands  has 
been  formed  in  situ  and  the  solid  rock  is  usually  not  far  below 
the  surface.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  rocks  below  act  as  a 
reservoir  for  moisture  and  yield  it  up  gradually  during  the  dry 
months  of  summer  a very  little  rainfall  is  sufficient. 

Succeeding  the  period  of  the  lava  outflows  there  came  a time 
in  its  geological  history  when  large  lakes  were  formed  within  the 
region  now  under  discussion.  These  were  finally  drained,  and 
most  of  the  sediment  which  had  been  deposited  in  them  has  been 
carried  away  by  the  streams,  but  in  some  localities  large  areas 
still  remain.  The  soil  formed  by  the  weathering  of  these  sedi- 
ments is  usually  of  a sandy  nature.  It  occurs  in  patches  all 
along  the  course  of  the  Yakima  river,  also  in  the  western  part  of 
Franklin  county  and  the  southern  end  of  Douglas  county.  This 
region  is  one  of  scanty  rainfall,  so  that  it  has  been  found  neces- 
sary to  resort  to  irrigation  in  order  to  raise  crops.  Wherever 
this  has  been  done  the  dry  and  barren  sage-brush  desert  has 
been  converted  into  a garden  and  made  to  support  a large  and 
thriving  population. 


38 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


The  only  cloud  on  the  horizon  which  threatens  the  prosperity 
of  the  irrigated  districts  of  the  lava  plain  is  the  continual  spread- 
ing of  the  alkali  area.  In  regions  of  abundant  rainfall  the  solu- 
ble salts  formed  from  the  decomposition  of  the  parent  rock  are 
carried  away  in  solution  almost  as  fast  as  formed,  but  where  the 
rainfall  is  scanty  the  water  does  not  flow  off  in  underground 
channels  but  rises  to  the  surface  and  evaporates  during  the 
succeeding  dry  weather.  Thus  the  salts  instead  of  being  carried 
away  accumulate  in  the  soil.  They  are  carried  upward  by  the 
ascending  moisture  during  dry  weather  and  upon  evaporation  of 
the  moisture  they  form  a crust  or  scum  upon  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  Farmers  usually  recognize  two  kinds,  black  alkali  and 
white  alkali.  Black  alkali  is  more  injurious  than  white  alkali. 
It  is  composed  mostly  of  carbonate  of  soda,  and  has  the  power 
of  dissolving  the  humus  of  the  soil.  Upon  evaporation  the  dis- 
solved humus  leaves  a dark  ring  about  the  deposit,  which  gives 
it  its  distinctive  name.  White  alkali  is  mostly  sodium  sulphate 
and  is  not  quite  so  harmful  to  vegetation.  In  the  irrigated  re- 
gions along  the  Yakima  river,  especially  in  the  Kittitas  and  Yak- 
ima valleys,  what  to  do  with  the  alkali  has  become  a serious 
problem  to  the  farmer.  It  is  only  when  the  land  has  been  under 
cultivation  for  a number  of  seasons  and  where  it  receives  the 
drainage  from  land  lying  higher  that  the  effects  of  the  alkali  are 
seriously  felt.  In  bulletin  49  of  the  Experiment  Station  of  the 
Washington  Agricultural  College  and  School  of  Science,  Pro- 
fessor W.  H.  Heileman  takes  up  the  subject  at  length  and  sug- 
gests a number  of  remedies. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  Glacial  period  the  Columbia  river, 
together  with  the  other  streams  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state, 
was  charged  with  more  sediment  than  it  could  readily  carry, 
with  the  result  that  instead  of  cutting  its  valley  deeper  it  kept 
filling  it  up,  until  the  old  valley  was  filled  many  hundreds  of 
feet  deep  with  gravel.  After  the  ice  had  all  gone  and  normal 
conditions  again  prevailed,  the  river  carried  off  to  the  sea  most 
of  this  sediment,  but  has  left  remnants  all  along  its  upper 
reaches  in  the  form  of  gravel  terraces,  at  various  elevations 
above  the  river.  Where  water  can  be  had  for  irrigation  from 
the  lateral  streams  flowing  into  the  Columbia,  these  level  topped 
terraces  are  cultivated.  Owing  to  the  light  condition  of  the  soil, 
the  dryness  of  the  climate,  and  the  high  winds  which  prevail. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


39 


the  soil  is  largely  windblown.  It  is  exceedingly  rich  and  some 
of  the  finest  fruit  farms  in  the  state  are  in  this  section. 

Along  the  lower  course  of  the  Wenatche  river  the  rocks  are 
sandstones  of  Eocene  age.  They  form,  on  decomposition,  a 
light  soil  largely  of  fine  sand  which  is  easily  carried  about  by 
the  winds.  This,  mixed  with  glacial  material  brought  down  by 
the  river,  has  formed  a very  fertile  soil.  Whenever  water  can 
be  obtained  for  irrigation  the  soil  yields  abundantly,  and  up  to  the 
present  time  no  trouble  has  been  experienced  from  alkali.  The 
general  appearance  of  a soil  gives  little  indication  of  its  fertility. 
One  can  hardly  conceive  of  any  soil  more  barren  and  desolate 
than  that  which  is  found  in  many  places  along  the  Columbia 
river.  It  consists  almost  wholly  of  drifting  sand,  in  the  summer 
time  dry  as  powder,  and  needing  only  the  slightest  puff  of  wind 
to  send  it  whirling,  yet  when  water  is  turned  upon  it  crops  grow 
as  if  by  magic. 

North  of  the  Columbia  lava  plain,  between  the  Columbia  and 
Spokane  rivers  on  the  south  and  the  international  boundary  line 
on  the  north  there  is  a wide  belt  known  in  a general  way  as  the 
Okanogan  country.  The  hills  are  made  up  of  granites,  schists, 
gneisses  and  other  crystalline  rocks  of  ancient  origin.  The  soil, 
as  might  be  expected,  differs  very  materially  from  that  to  the 
southward.  These  ancient  rocks  are  composed  very  largely  of 
complex  silicates,  such  as  feldspar,  amphibole,  pyroxene  and 
mica.  These  are  comparatively  rich  in  the  elements  of  fertility, 
so  that  we  usually  expect  to  find  soil  quite  fertile  when  it  is  de- 
rived from  such  rocks.  Because  of  the  small  amount  of  rainfall, 
however,  nearly  all  of  the  farming  that  is  done  in  this  part  of  the 
state  at  the  present  time  is  on  the  terraces  of  the  rivers  where 
little  lateral  streams  come  in  in  such  a manner  as  to  afford  water 
for  irrigation.  The  rest  of  the  land  is  given  up  to  stockraising. 

All  along  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Cascade  mountains  there  is 
a wide  belt  given  over  chiefly  to  pasturage.  The  soil  is  mostly 
formed  by  the  disintegration  of  the  rocks  immediately  below  and 
is  of  at  least  ordinary  richness,  but  above  an  altitude  of  about 
two  thousand  feet  farming  cannot  be  carried  on  successfully. 
Owing  to  the  limited  rainfall  the  timber  is  not  heavy,  and  in  the 
open  glades  of  the  forest  the  pasture  is  excellent.  Large  bands 
of  cattle,  sheep  and  horses  belonging  to  the  farmers  of  the  low- 
lands are  pastured  here  every  summer. 


40  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey . 


The  following  analyses  of  Washington  soils,  made  by  Profes- 
sor Elton  Fulmer  and  Mr.  C.  C.  Fletcher,  are  taken  from  Bulletin 
13  of  the  department  of  chemistry,  Washington  Agricultural 
College  and  School  of  Science. 


No.  1. 

No.  2. 

No.  3. 

No.  4. 

No.  5. 

No.  6. 

Insoluble  residue 

76.494 

78.7114 

78.434 

75.855 

28.352 

69.653 

Insoluble  silica 

62.831 

65.768 

60.207 

66.668 

21.649  j 

AQ  A«\Q 

Combined  silica 

13.663 

12.943 

18.227 

9.187 

6.703  f 

Soluble  silica 

.301 

.016 

.210 

.033 

.181 

.022 

Potasb  (K20) 

.635 

.331 

.433 

.008 

.137 

.448 

Soda  (Na20) 

.374 

.568 

.374 

.286 

.191 

.504 

Lime  (CaO) 

1.081 

1.512 

1.213 

.769 

.379 

.781 

Magnesia  (MgO) 

.727 

1.527 

.788 

.426 

.036 

.123 

Peroxide  of  iron 

4.554 

4.610 

5.158 

3.587 

1.055 

4.823 

Alumina  (A1203) 

7.526 

5.930 

6.891 

6.465 

4.301 

8.137 

Phosphoric  acid  (P2O5) 

.142 

.182 

.101 

.054 

.313 

.345 

Sulphuric  acid  (SO 3) 

trace 

trace 

trace 

.038 

.093 

.049 

Chlorine 

.020 

.015 

.006 

.007 

.018 

.006 

Water  at  120  degs.  C 

4.523 

2.731 

3.453 

3.120 

11.760 

3.493 

Volatile  and  organic  matter. 

3.612 

3.745 

3.019 

9.160 

52.874 

11.613 

Totals 

99.992 

99.881 

100.79 

99.808 

99.691 

100.00 

Humus 

.995 

.610 

.255 

2.001 

6.915 

3.465 

Nitrogen 

.110 

.141 

.087 

.234 

1.347 

.720 

No.  1. — Typical  soil  of  the  Palouse  country,  taken  from  the  college 
farm,  Washington  Agricultural  College  and  School  of  Science,  Pull- 
man, Whitman  county. 

No.  2. — Farm  of  J.  B.  Holt,  Wawaiwai,  Whitman  county,  located  on 
the  bank  of  Snake  river.  Soil  is  mostly  sand. 

No.  3. — Sage  brush  soil  from  S.  W.  i sec.  12  T.  14  N.  R.  18  E.  near 
North  Yakima. 

No.  4. — Glacial  soil  from  Anacortes,  Skagit  county. 

No.  5. — Typical  marsh  soil  of  western  Washington  from  near  Ana- 
cortes, Skagit  county. 

No.  6. — Granite  soil  from  garden  of  A.  L.  Smith,  twelve  miles  north- 
east of  Spokane. 

Professor  Fullmer  sums  up  his  conclusions  as  follows : 

“Barrenness  maybe  due  first,  to  a deficiency  in  lime,  potash  and 
phosphoric  acid ; second,  to  their  not  being  in  an  available  form,  or 
third,  to  adverse  climatic  conditions. 

“Analytical  results  prove  that  western  Washington  soils  will  be 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  application  of  lime. 

“The  average  percentage  of  lime  and  potash  are  higher  and  phos- 
phoric acid  lower  in  eastern  than  in  western  Washington. 

“The  lime  percentages  are  lower  in  regions  of  abundant  rainfall 
than  in  the  dryer  parts  of  the  state.” 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington. 


41 


ROAD -MAKING  MATERIALS* 

GENERAL  STATEMENT. 


The  Construction  and  Care  of  Roads. 

In  the  pioneer  stage  of  development  a community  is  com- 
pelled in  its  road  making  to  use  the  material  immediately  at 
hand  whether  it  be  good  or  bad.  For  many  years  to  come  most 
of  our  country  roads  necessarily  will  have  to  be  made  of  the  ma- 
terials over  which  they  run,  especially  the  cross  roads  which 
lead  off  from  the  main  highways  of  traffic.  In  the  case  of  the 
larger  arteries  of  commerce,  the  leading  roads  which  bind  to- 
gether our  towns  and  cities,  the  time  is  now  here  when  the 
question  of  proper  construction  and  of  proper  materials  for  these 
highways  should  receive  the  greatest  attention.  Road  making 
requires  skill  and  training  of  a special  kind,  and  should  there- 
fore be  done  under  the  direction  of  a competent  engineer.  One 
of  the  greatest  mistakes  which  is  made  in  the  laying  out  of  roads 
is  to  require  that  they  follow  without  deviation  the  section  lines. 
The  community  should  be  allowed  to  exercise  the  right  of  eminent 
domain  in  the  location  of  roads.  It  is  quite  as  important  as  in  the 
case  of  railroads.  It  is  a wasteful  system  to  require  that  the  roads 
zigzag  around  section  lines,  up  hill  and  down  hill,  when  a compar- 
atively level  grade  may  be  easily  obtained,  usually  on  a more 
direct  route.  It  is  much  cheaper  for  a community  to  buy  up  a 
desirable  right-of-way  than  it  is  to  have  its  traffic  for  an  indefinite 
number  of  years  compelled  to  make  detours  and  climb  steep 
hills  simply  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  on  section  lines.  When 
permanent  improvements  of  a road  are  contemplated  it  is  espe- 
cially important  that  the  best  grades  and  the  most  direct  route 
be  found,  otherwise  the  evil  is  practically  placed  beyond  remedy 
for  many  years  to  come. 

The  initial  cost  of  good  roads  is  usually  high,  and  their  con- 
struction should  not  be  undertaken  in  a haphazard  manner. 
America  is  far  behind  Europe  in  the  matter  of  highway  construc- 
tion, but  this  is  a condition  of  affairs  which  it  is  earnestly  hoped 
will  speedily  be  changed.  It  is  said  that  the  roads  in  the  moun- 
tain republic  of  Switzerland  have  much  more  gentle  grades  than 


42  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


those  of  the  prairie  states  of  our  own  country.  The  system  of 
building  and  maintaining  roads  which  we  use  now  is  the  same  as 
that  employed  in  Europe  a century  ago,  when  the  roads  came  to 
be  so  bad  that  the  various  governments  had  to  take  the  matter 
in  hand.  In  England  the  work  of  constructing  highways  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  engineers  like  Macadam  and  Telford,  with 
the  result  that  a system  of  highways  was  built  which  has  remained 
in  excellent  condition  down  to  the  present  day.  Methods  similar 
to  those  employed  in  Europe  will  have  to  be  used  in  this  country 
before  we  can  bring  our  highways  into  the  same  degree  of  excel- 
lence. 

One  essential  thing  in  road  construction  is  to  have  the  road 
in  such  shape  that  it  can  be  kept  dry.  The  surface  should  be 
able  to  shed  water,  and  ditches  and  culverts  should  be  so  placed 
that  no  water  will  be  allowed  to  accumulate.  In  country  districts 
the  road  should  not  be  too  wide;  eight  feet  is  usually  wide 
enough.  In  making  a macadam  road  the  mistake  is  usually  made 
of  getting  them  too  wide.  After  a road  is  well  built  care  should 
be  taken  to  keep  it  in  good  repair.  Narrow  tires  on  vehicles  are 
very  effective  agents  in  destroying  a road.  In  order  to  encourage 
the  use  of  wide  tires  a number  of  states  have  offered  a rebate  on 
road  taxes  to  all  who  will  use  them.  It  has  been  proven  by  a 
series  of  experiments  that  except  in  deep  mud  wide-tired  vehicles 
require  less  power  to  pull  them  than  do  those  with  narrow  tires. 
On  a smooth  hard  road  the  advantage  is  found  to  be  in  favor  of 
the  wide  tires.  Wide  tires  act  as  road  makers  and  narrow  tires 
as  road  destroyers.  The  wide  tires  roll  the  road  out  smoothly 
and  do  not  cut  it  into  ruts. 

Materials  for  Road  Making. 

For  some  years  to  come  many  of  our  roads  will  doubtless  be 
made  of  common  dirt  or  loam.  A dirt  road,  if  properly  made 
and  kept  in  good  repair,  has  some  advantages  over  a hard  stone 
road  in  dry  weather.  It  is  not  so  wearing  on  vehicles  or  on  the 
hoofs  of  horses.  In  wet  weather  a dirt  road  is  the  worst  of  all, 
and  should  be  macadamized  as  soon  as  circumstances  will  per- 
mit. The  best  rock  for  this  purpose  is  fine-grained  volcanic 
rock,  crushed  into  fragments  not  more  than  an  inch  and  a half 
in  diameter.  This  should  be  spread  on  the  prepared  roadbed  in 
successive  layers,  each  one  rolled  with  a heavy  steam  roller 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  43 


before  the  next  layer  is  spread.  The  topmost  layer  should  be 
made  of  the  fine  dust  of  the  broken  rock.  It  fills  up  all  the  in- 
terstices in  the  layers  below  and  cements  the  whole  mass  together. 

In  order  to  make  good  road  material,  a rock  should  possess 
considerable  hardness  and  toughness,  combined  with  the  power 
of  cementing  well  when  placed  in  a roadbed.  Granite  does  not 
make  a very  good  macadamizing  material  because  the  quartz 
contained  in  it  crumbles  under  the  impact  of  traffic  and  the 
other  minerals  scale  off  and  weather  quite  rapidly.  Limestone 
has  great  cementing  power,  but  because  of  its  softness  it  does 
not  wear  as  well  as  some  other  rocks.  Sandstone  is  quite  use- 
less for  macadamizing  purposes  as  it  crumbles  very  easily  and 
will  not  cement  readily.  Among  volcanic  rocks  basalt  is  prob- 
ably the  best,  as  it  is  one  of  the  very  best  rocks  used  in  road 
construction.  It  is  tough,  durable,  and  cements  well. 

Glacial  till  which  has  not  been  exposed  at  the  surface  so  as 
to  become  weathered  makes  very  good  road  material.  It  is  a 
mixture  of  clay,  sand  and  gravel,  and  cements  together  readily. 
Sand,  when  used  alone,  is  extremely  poor  material  to  use  in  the 
construction  of  a road,  because  it  will  not  consolidate.  Clean, 
rounded  gravel  is  almost  as  bad.  A gravel  bank  which  looks 
brown  or  red  should  never  be  used  on  a road.  Its  color  shows 
that  it  has  been  weathered  and  has  lost  the  power  of  cementing 
together  when  put  on  a road.  If  coarse  gravel  is  put  through  a 
crusher,  it  will  often  cement  very  well  on  account  of  the  fresh, 
unweathered  surfaces  exposed.  Pure  clay  is  not  a good  road 
material,  but  when  gravel,  sand  and  clay  are  mixed  together 
they  make  a firm,  waterproof  roadway  that  wears  very  well. 

ROAD-MAKING  MATERIALS  OF  WASHINGTON. 

Washington  possesses  a large  variety  of  the  best  materials 
used  in  building  roads.  Not  only  are  these  materials  of  a supe- 
rior order,  but  they  are  widespread  in  occurrence  and  practi- 
cally limitless  in  quantity.  The  lack  of  good  materials  for  road 
construction  can  never  be  urged  as  an  excuse  for  poor  roads  in 
Washington.  In  describing  the  road-making  materials  of  the 
state  it  will  be  possible  to  mention  only  a few  of  the  localities 
where  these  things  occur. 

Western  Washington.  — Within  the  glaciated  area  of  west- 
ern Washington,  which  comprises  all  except  the  southwest  cor- 


44  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 

ner  of  the  state,  glacial  till  occurs  everywhere.  A great  deal  of 
the  till  is  good  road  making  material.  Where  there  is  the  right 
proportions  of  clay,  sand  and  gravel  with  some  cementing  in- 
gredient present  it  becomes  very  compact.  In  choosing  mate- 
rial of  this  nature  care  should  be  taken  to  see  that  it  is  not  too 
loose  and  incoherent  and  that  it  does  not  contain  too  large  a 
proportion  of  clay.  A bank  which  stands  upright  and  when 
picked  down  falls  in  large  masses  without  crumbling  is  the  best. 
Within  the  glacial  area  sand  and  gravel  are  very  abundant  every- 
where. As  pointed  out  before,  these  alone  are  not  very  good  for 
making  roads.  However,  both  are  extensively  used  in  making 
a foundation  for  vitrified  brick  pavements  in  the  cities.  There 
is  a large  sand  and  gravel  plant  operating  at  the  water’s  edge 
near  Steilacoom.  The  materials  are  washed  and  then  sorted  by 
means  of  revolving  sieves  into  various  grades  of  fineness. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  glacial  region  of  western  Washing- 
ton, there  are  a number  of  localities  where  volcanic  rocks  suit- 
able for  macadamizing  purposes  crop  out  above  the  drift.  Near 
the  Port  Orchard  dry  dock  there  is  a quarry  in  basalt,  near  the 
water’s  edge,  where  rock  for  road  building  is  taken  out.  It  is 
crushed  at  the  quarry  and  sent  in  scow  loads  to  Seattle,  Tacoma, 
and  other  cities  about  the  Sound.  Another  quarry  has  been 
opened  along  the  railroad  track  between  South  Seattle  and 
Black  River  Junction.  The  rock  here  is  mottled  volcanic  rock, 
probably  andesite,  and  is  rather  too  soft  to  be  of  very  good 
quality  for  macadamizing.  It  is  now  being  used  in  combination 
with  other  rocks  for  making  concrete  pavements  in  Seattle. 
Along  the  western  side  of  Hoods  Canal  there  are  extensive  out- 
crops of  volcanic  rock  suitable  for  macadamizing  purposes. 
Along  the  Grays  Harbor  branch  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
way a hard,  compact,  durable  basalt  outcrops  at  many  places 
between  Gate  City  and  Aberdeen.  It  exists  in  large  quantities, 
is  very  accessible,  and  is  a road-making  material  of  the  very 
best  quality. 

At  a number  of  places  in  western  Washington  limestone  oc- 
curs which  may  have  a large  use  in  the  road  construction  of  the 
future.  It  is  for  the  most  part  quite  accessible  and  exists  in 
ample  quantities.  Granite  from  Index  is  used  very  largely  for 
street  curbing  in  the  cities  about  Puget  Sound. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington . 45 


Eastern  Washington. — In  eastern  Washington  the  basalt 
of  the  great  lava  plans  makes  a first  class  macadamizing  mater- 
ial. This  is  a part  of  the  state  which  perhaps  more  than  any 
other  needs  a system  of  good  roads.  The  best  farming  sections 
of  the  state  are  located  within  the  limits  of  the  lava  fields.  In 
the  Palouse  country,  about  Walla  Walla,  and  within  the  great 
bend  of  the  Columbia,  there  is  a large  and  increasing  population 
depending  upon  agriculture.  Wheat  growing  is  the  principal 
industry.  During  the  summer  months  the  roads  are  everywhere 
dry  and  in  fairly  good  condition,  but  when  the  fall  rains  come 
and  the  farmer  is  ready  to  haul  his  grain  to  market  the  roads  are 
usually  all  but  impassible.  When  the  lava  finally  weathers  and 
decomposes  it  forms  a finely  powdered  soil  which  accumulates  to 
great  depths  in  the  valleys.  When  the  soil  becomes  soaked  with 
water  there  is  apparently  no  bottom  to  the  mud  thus  produced, 
and  until  it  freezes  or  slowly  dries  up  traffic  throughout  the  rural 
districts  is  almost  at  a standstill. 

A large  part  of  the  area  embraced  within  the  limits  of  the 
Columbia  lava  plain  in  this  state  is  now  so  thickly  populated  and 
so  prosperous  that  an  extensive  system  of  highway  improvement 
should  be  inaugurated  without  any  further  delay.  The  basalt 
which  is  to  be  obtained  everywhere  makes  the  very  best  material, 
so  that  the  construction  of  good  macadamized  roads  would  not 
be  expensive.  The  rock  would  have  to  be  crushed,  spread  in 
layers  on  the  prepared  road  bed  and  rolled  with  heavy  rollers. 
In  this  way  a system  of  roads  would  be  built  which  would  be  in 
good  condition  every  day  in  the  year.  The  saving  in  the  expense 
of  hauling  the  produce  to  market  would  more  than  suffice  to 
build  the  roads  and  keep  them  in  good  repair. 

North  of  the  Columbia  lava  plain  and  east  of  the  Cascades 
lies  a region  of  ancient  metamorphic  rocks,  granite,  gneiss,  schist, 
marble  and  slate  with  a ramifying  system  of  trap  dikes.  It  is  a 
country  of  rolling  hills  given  over  chiefly  to  stock  raising  and 
mining.  The  towns  are  small  and  far  apart,  and  not  much  in 
the  way  of  a systematic  improvement  of  the  higways  can  be  ex- 
pected for  some  time.  The  trap  dikes  are  pretty  well  distributed 
through  the  country  rock  and  will  furnish  the  very  best  material 
when  the  time  comes  to  macadamize  the  roads.  The  streams  all 
have  terraces  at  various  elevations  above  their  beds  and  a great 
many  of  the  roads  follow  along  the  tops  of  the  terraces.  The 


6 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


gravel  affords  a natural  drainage,  so  that  the  roads  are  likely  to 
be  in  a good  condition  throughout  the  year.  In  some  of  the  more 
promising  mining  districts  it  is  imperative  that  first  class  roads 
be  built  in  order  to  haul  the  ore  out  and  get  the  supplies  in  to 
the  mines.  Mining  camps  as  a rule  are  from  their  nature  not  as 
permanent  as  agricultural  communities,  so  that  the  roads  do  not 
need  to  be  of  so  permanent  a nature. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Spokane  there  are  wide  gravel  plains  where 
the  roads  possess  a natural  drainage  so  that  no  grading  or  side 
ditches  are  required.  These  gravels  are  relics  of  the  glacial 
period,  when  the  Spokane  river  was  given  a bigger  load  than  it 
could  carry  and  dropped  some  of  it  by  the  wayside.  The  gravel 
makes  an  excellent  foundation  for  the  vitrified  brick  pavements 
used  in  the  city. 

In  the  Yakima  valley  the  underlying  rock  is  sandstone,  belong- 
ing to  the  Ellensburg  formation,  but  there  is  abundant  basalt 
and  other  volcanic  rocks  near  at  hand  for  macadamizing  pur- 
poses. Some  of  the  roads  in  the  valley  have  been  placed  in  very 
fair  condition,  and  travel  over  them  is  not  difficult  even  in  bad 
weather.  If  the  residents  of  this  valley  continue  to  pursue  the 
same  enlightened  policy  in  a few  years  they  will  have  a very 
good  system  of  roads. 

In  the  Kittitas  valley  the  geological  conditions  are  much  the 
same  as  in  the  Yakima  valley.  Ridges  of  basalt  surround  the 
valley  on  all  sides,  so  that  the  rock  can  easily  be  quarried  out  in 
a hundred  different  places.  The  sandstones  which  occur  in  the 
vicinity  of  Ellensburg  are  not  good  for  road-building  purposes, 
and  certainly  should  not  be  used  when  basalt  may  be  had  so 
readily. 


The  Non-Melalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  47 


PETROLEUM* 


GENERAL  STATEMENT. 


Conditions  of  Occurrence. 

Petroleum  in  small  quantities  is  very  widely  distributed 
throughout  the  sedimentary  rocks  all  over  the  surface  of  the 
globe,  but,  like  all  other  economic  products  of  nature,  it  is  valu- 
able only  when  found  in  a sufficiently  concentrated  form.  The 
finding  of  oil  in  small  amounts  on  the  surface  or  in  the  rocks  of 
any  locality  is  not  usually  of  much  importance  as  indicating  the 
presence  of  commercial  quantities.  Until  a well  has  been  actually 
sunk  and  large  quantities  of  oil  found,  there  is  always  a consid- 
erable element  of  risk  no  matter  how  favorable  the  surface  indi- 
cations may  be. 

Before  going  to  the  expense  of  drilling  it  is  well  to  know  just 
how  much  importance  can  be  attached  to  surface  indications. 
The  presence  of  oil  as  a film  on  the  surface  of  water  does  not 
count  for  much  unless  it  is  in  large  quantities.  Seepages  may 
or  may  not  be  an  indication.  Professor  Edward  Orton  * says  : 
“Along  the  extensive  northern  and  western  outcrops  of  the 
great  Ohio  shale  through  western  New  York,  Ohio,  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  oil  and  gas  springs  are  everywhere  found,  but  the 
supplies  are  invariably  small  in  quantity,  and  there  are  no  indi- 
cations of  storage  on  the  large  scale  such  as  would  justify  the 
application  of  the  term  ‘reservoirs’  to  the  formation.”  Very 
often  the  seepages  merely  show  that  the  oil  has  found  a means 
of  escape  to  the  surface  and  that  none  will  be  found  under  pres- 
sure in  the  rocks.  Besides,  oil  is  not  the  only  substance  that 
forms  an  iridescent  film  on  the  surface  of  water ; certain  iron 
compounds  and  organic  substances  have  the  same  effect.  Even 
when  the  seepages  of  oil  are  unmistakable,  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  presence  of  small  quantities  of  petroleum  in  the 
stratified  rocks  is  the  normal  condition  in  nature,  and  that  it  is 
only  where  the  conditions  are  exceptionally  favorable  that  the 
oil  is  concentrated. 


♦Edward Orton  : Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas.  Kentucky  Geological  Survey,  1891. 


48  Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


No  importance  whatever  can  be  attached  to  the  topography  of 
the  locality  as  an  indication  of  oil  except  where  the  hills  and  the 
valleys  conform  to  the  folds  of  the  rocks.  It  is  not  likely  that 
in  the  supposed  oil  regions  of  the  state  there  is  a conspicuous 
connection  between  the  rock  structure  and  the  land  features,  so 
that  in  the  absence  of  surface  indications  oil  is  just  as  likely  to 
be  found  by  drilling  on  a hill  top  as  in  a valley.  Wherever  pos- 
sible the  folds  of  the  rocks  should  be  determined  from  the  sur- 
face outcroppings,  and  the  well  sunk  on  an  anticline  or  arch. 
Since  oil  is  lighter  than  water  it  rises  to  the  highest  part  of  the 
fold  and  gives  place  to  water  below.  In  the  Pennsylvania  oil 
fields  all  the  successful  wells  are  located  on  the  arches  of  the 
folds.* 

Before  petroleum  can  accumulate  in  large  quantities  in  one 
place  three  conditions  are  usually  considered  necessary,  ist. 
There  must  be  a source  of  the  petroleum;  that  is,  there  must  be 
strata  containing  organic  matter  wherein  the  chemical  processes 
may  take  place  by  which  vegetal  and  animal  tissue  is  changed 
into  petroleum.  2d.  There  must  be  a reservoir  of  porous  rock 
to  contain  the  oil  after  it  is  formed.  This  is  usually  sandstone 
or  conglomerate.  In  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  oil  regions  the  res- 
ervoir is  Trenton  limestone.  It  is  only  when  the  limestone  has 
become  changed  into  dolomite  that  it  becomes  porous  enough  to 
act  as  a reservoir.  Owing  to  local  conditions  in  this  state  sand- 
stone is  most  likely  to  act  as  a reservoir.  3d.  There  must  be 
impervious  strata  above  the  oil-bearing  beds  in  order  to  prevent 
the  oil  from  escaping  to  the  surface.  Shale  or  other  close 
grained  rock  usually  occupies  this  position  in  the  oil  regions. 
To  these  three  conditions  there  is  usually  supplemented  a fourth, 
namely,  that  the  rocks  must  be  thrown  into  folds  so  that  the  oil 
can  collect  in  the  arches  of  the  folds. 

Origin  of  Petroleum. 

Petroleum  is  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  vegetal  and 
animal  remains  embedded  in  the  sedimentary  rocks.  Such 
rocks  are  formed  by  the  accumulation  of  sediments  on  the  floors 
of  seas  and  lakes.  Along  with  the  inorganic  sediment  carried 
down  by  the  streams  there  is  always  a considerable  amount  of 
organic  material  carried  also.  This  material,  together  with  the 


*1.  C.  White:  Geology  of  Natural  Gas.  Science,  June  26, 1885. 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  49 


remains  of  animals  and  plants  which  live  and  die  in  the  sea,  is 
gradually  covered  up  by  succeeding  sediments.  Any  kind  of 
organic  matter  when  exposed  to  the  air  quickly  decomposes, 
but  when  it  is  buried  beneath  water,  and  hence  is  very  well  pro- 
tected from  the  air,  decomposition  goes  on  with  extreme  slow- 
ness, so  that  the  resulting  chemical  products  are  of  a different 
nature  from  those  formed  in  the  air.  It  is  not  possible  to  re- 
produce in  the  laboratory  the  conditions  under  which  petroleum 
is  formed ; in  this  case  we  connot  imitate  the  processes  of  na- 
ture. It  is  believed,  however,  by  all  who  are  recognized  author- 
ities on  the  subject,  that  oil  is  formed  by  the  decomposition  of 
organic  matter  contained  in  the  sediments  which  have  been  de- 
posited on  the  sea  floor. 

Oil  has  been  found  in  nearly  all  the  geological  horizons  from 
Silurian  to  late  Tertiary.  The  Pennsylvania  oil  fields  are  in 
Devonian  rocks,  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  fields  are  in  Silurian. 
The  Russian  oil  fields,  on  the  Caspian  sea,  are  in  Tertiary  rocks. 
In  California,  where  the  conditions  most  nearly  resemble  those 
found  in  our  own  state,  most  of  the  oil  is  found  in  rocks  of 
Miocene  or  middle  Tertiary  age.  Tertiary  rocks  containing  pe- 
troleum are  known  to  exist  all  the  way  along  the  Pacific  coast 
from  South  America  to  Alaska.  In  the  California  oil  districts 
the  rocks  are  sharply  folded ; in  some  of  the  wells  the  strata  are 
almost  vertical.  The  oil,  too,  is  heavier  than  the  eastern  article 
and  has  an  asphalt  base. 

PETROLEUM  IN  WASHINGTON. 

In  considering  the  probability  of  obtaining  oil  in  Washington, 
it  is  not  possible  to  discuss  the  state  as  a whole.  Its  geology  is 
so  diversified  that  it  will  have  to  be  treated  in  sections.  By  a 
process  of  elimination,  those  portions  of  the  state  where  the  con- 
ditions do  not  admit  of  the  formation  and  accumulation  of  oil 
will  be  first  mentioned  and  set  aside,  until  the  field  is  narrowed 
to  those  areas  where  the  conditions  are  such  that  oil  may  exist, 
and  which  may  therefore  afford  proper  prospecting  ground. 

Beginning  with  eastern  Washington,  the  area  lying  between 
the  Cascade  mountains  on  the  west  and  the  Idaho  boundary  on 
the  east,  and  between  the  Spokane  and  Columbia  rivers  on  the 
north  and  Oregon  on  the  south,  forms  part  of  the  great  Columbia 
basalt  lava  field.  In  its  larger  features  it  is  approximately  a 


50 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


level  plain,  but  is  worn  locally  into  hills  and  deep  canyons.  In 
the  southern  part  of  the  area  the  lava  is  several  thousand  feet 
in  thickness  but  gradually  thins  out  to  the  northward  until  it  is 
not  more  than  three  or  four  hundred  feet  thick.  In  several 
places  Snake  river  has  cut  its  canyon  down  through  the  lava 
and  exposed  the  underlying  rock,  which  is  granite.  Along  the 
Washington-Idaho  boundary  the  lava  maybe  seen  lying  directly 
upon  old  crystalline  rocks.  In  several  places  in  the  lava  field 
similar  crystalline  rocks  may  be  seen  rising  above  the  lava  in 
the  form  of  hills  or  buttes.  Steptoe  butte  in  Whitman  county 
is  an  example.  On  the  northern  and  western  side  the  lava  there 
may  also  be  seen  overlying  crystalline  rocks  of  very  ancient 
origin. 

If  oil  originates  from  the  decomposition  of  organic  remains 
embedded  in  sedimentary  rocks,  as  is  held  by  all  whose  author- 
ity on  the  subject  is  recognized,  it  is  clear  that  none  need  be 
looked  for  in  the  region  just  described.  All  the  evidence  goes 
to  show  that  previous  to  the  outflow  of  the  lava  the  region  con- 
sisted of  granite,  gneiss,  schist,  and  other  rocks  of  similar  na- 
ture. Then  the  lava  came  in  successive  overflows  and  gradually 
submerged  valleys  and  hills  until  finally  the  whole  country  was 
one  vast  level  expanse  of  basalt.  This  part  of  the  state  may 
therefore  be  eliminated  from  the  list  of  possible  oil  bearing  re- 
gions. 

North  of  the  Columbia  lava  plain  is  the  region  known  as  the 
Okanogan  highlands.  It  includes  practically  all  of  eastern 
Washington  north  of  the  Spokane  and  Columbia  rivers.  The 
rock  is  mainly  of  ancient  crystalline  type,  mostly  granite,  gneiss, 
and  schist,  with  occasional  small  areas  of  sedimentary  rocks  of 
later  times.  It  is  evident  at  once  that  it  is  not  worth  the  while 
to  look  for  oil  in  the  rocks  of  the  Okanogan  highlands. 

In  the  Cascade  mountains  the  rocks  have  been  folded,  crushed 
and  broken  so  badly  that  any  oil  which  they  might  have  held  at 
one  time  has  long  since  escaped.  In  the  oil  fields  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio  and  Indiana  the  evidence  seems  to  show  that  a mod- 
erate amount  of  folding  in  the  rocks  is  necessary  for  the  accumu- 
lation of  oil.  When  the  folding  and  crushing  have  been  carried 
to  an  extreme  point,  however,  the  consolidation  or  metamorphism 
of  the  oil  bearing  rock  forces  out  the  oil  and  it  escapes  through 
the  fissures  which  are  formed.  For  this  reason  we  would  also 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  51 


exclude  the  Cascade  mountains  from  the  list  of  places  where  oil 
is  at  all  likely  to  be  ■found. 

The  Olympic  mountain  region  would  be  excluded  for  the  same 
reason  as  in  the  case  of  the  Cascades.  This  refers,  of  course, 
only  to  the  higher  parts  of  the  mountains  which  are  composed 
exclusively  of  igneous  rocks.  In  the  lower  foothills,  where  sedi- 
mentary strata  occur,  the  conditions  are  often  favorable  for  oil 
accumulation. 

This  process  of  exclusion  leaves  as  possible  oil-bearing  terri- 
tory all  of  western  Washington,  with  the  exception  of  the  higher 
parts  of  the  Olympic  mountains  mentioned  above.  It  will  be 
seen  by  referring  to  the  geological  map  which  accompanies  this 
report  that  with  the  exception  of  the  San  Juan  islands,  which 
are  of  Cretaceous  age,  all  of  the  rocks  embraced  in  the  area 
under  consideration  belong  to  the  Tertiary  period.  They  are, 
therefore,  of  the  same  age  as  the  rocks  of  the  California  oil 
fields. 

It  is  probable  that  during  Tertiary  times  the  region  now 
forming  western  Washington  was  the  bed  of  a shallow  sea.  The 
Olympic  mountains  doubtless  formed  an  island  in  this  sea. 
Sand  and  mud  accumulated  to  great  depths  on  the  sea  floor,  and 
there  was  buried  within  these  sediments  the  remains  of  sea  ani- 
imals  and  plants  as  well  as  the  vegetal  matter  brought  down  to 
the  sea  by  the  rivers.  By  processes  known  only  to  nature  this 
organic  matter  may  have  been  turned  into  petroleum  just  as  it 
has  been  known  to  do  under  similar  conditions  in  the  great  oil 
regions.  After  the  sediments  had  accumulated  to  a depth  of 
many  thousands  of  feet  and  had  been  changed  into  solid  rock, 
there  came  a gradual  upheaval  by  which  the  sea  floor  was  ele- 
vated until  it  became  a part  of  the  land.  This  elevation  was 
accompanied  by  great  lateral  pressure  which  folded  the  rocks 
and  raised  the  mountains  to  their  present  height.  Since  that 
time  the  streams  have  eroded  away  a great  part  of  these  sedi- 
mentary rocks  and  carried  their  constituents  again  into  the  sea. 

During  the  Glacial  period  all  but  the  southwestern  part  of 
this  region  was  covered  with  ice  several  thousand  feet  thick. 
Buried  within  the  drift  material  left  by  the  glaciers  are  beds 
of  vegetal  matter  more  or  less  decomposed.  In  some  instances, 
perhaps  from  this  vegetal  matter,  a little  petroleum  may  have 
been  formed.  If  such  were  the  case  it  would  account  for  many 


4—  III 


52 


Annual  Report  Washington  Geological  Survey. 


of  the  so  called  surface  indications  of  petroleum  found  in  the 
glacial  drift  about  Puget  sound.  Oil  formed  in  glacial  drift  can 
never  occur  in  large  quantities ; for  this  reason  it  is  unwise  to 
pay  any  attention  to  surface  indications  found  in  glacial  mate- 
rial. There  is  usually  so  much  clay  present  in  the  drift  as  to 
preclude  any  possibility  of  the  oil  having  seeped  from  the  bed 
rocks  lying  below,  especially  when  the  drift  has  a thickness  va- 
rying from  500  to  1000  feet,  as  is  the  case  in  western  Washing- 
ton. 

The  best  indications  of  oil  in  the  state  have  been  found  along 
the  coast  between  Grays  Harbor  and  Cape  Flattery.  As  far  as 
known,  this  part  of  the  state  has  never  been  carefully  studied  by 
a geologist,  and  most  of  the  information  concerning  it  consists 
of  the  reports  brought  out  by  prospectors  and  others,  together 
with  the  samples  of  rock  which  they  have  brought  along  with 
them.  Some  of  the  specimens  of  rock  are  composed  very 
largely  of  marine  shells.  These  are  of  Tertiary  age,  probably 
Miocene.  The  rocks  are  mostly  light  colored  sandstone  and  are 
considerably  folded  in  places.  They  lie  against  the  western  flanks 
of  the  Olympic  mountains  which,  from  various  reports,  seem  to 
be  composed  in  large  part  of  rocks  of  much  more  ancient  origin. 
It  is  said  that  over  wide  areas  the  sandstone,  when  broken  with 
a hammer,  gives  out  a strong  odor  of  oil.  Clay  beds  strongly 
impregnated  with  petroleum  are  also  to  be  found  along  the  coast 
for  many  miles. 

At  least  three  wells  are  now  being  drilled  in  this  part  of  the 
state.  [March,  1902].  A company  known  as  the  Olympic  Oil 
Company  is  drilling  a well  near  Copalis  Point,  Chehalis  county. 
They  are  said  to  be  down  a distance  of  between  eight  and  nine 
hundred  feet  and  to  have  good  indications  of  oil.  Another  com- 
pany, the  Eldorado,  is  also  drilling  on  Copalis  river  about  two 
miles  from  the  Olympic  company’s  well.  On  the  authority  of 
Mr.  George  Wilkening,  the  president  of  the  company,  they  are 
now  down  a distance  of  one  hundred  feet  and  are  sinking  as 
rapidly  as  circumstances  will  permit.  Farther  north  along  the 
coast  the  Lapush  Oil  Company  is  drilling  a well  near  the  little 
Indian  village  of  Lapush,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Solduck  river,  in 
Clallam  county.  The  rock  where  they  are  drilling  is  a light 
colored  sandstone  lying  upon  conglomerate  and  dipping  north- 


The  Non-Metalliferous  Resources  of  Washington.  53 


east  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees.  Good  surface 
indications  are  said  to  be  found  in  this  neighborhood. 

The  work  of  drilling  along  this  part  of  the  coast  is  a slow 
process  on  account  of  the  difficulty  and  delay  in  obtaining  suit- 
able tools.  All  drilling  tools  have  to  be  obtained  from  San 
Francisco,  and  vexatious  delays  have  been  the  rule. 

Between  Tenino  and  Grand  Mound,  in  Thurston  county,  the 
Puget  Sound  Petroleum  Company  have  reached  a depth  of 
about  a thousand  feet,  and  are  still  continuing  operations.  The 
Pacific  Oil  Wells  Company  of  Tacoma  sunk  a well  at  Tacoma 
and  another  at  Des  Moines,  King  county,  but  finally  abandoned 
both.  They  are  now  drilling  a third  well  at  Happy  Valley,  near 
Fairhaven,  Whatcom  county.  They  are  now  down  a distance 
of  one  thousand  feet  and  still  drilling.  They  claim  to  have 
passed  through  three  layers  of  oil-bearing  sand  and  at  the  depth 
of  about  nine  hundred  feet  to  have  pumped  up  a small  quantity 
of  oil.  For  the  first  one  hundred  feet  the  drill  passed  through 
glacial  drift,  but  since  that  the  formation  has  been  mostly  sand- 
stone and  shale.  A company  known  as  the  Seattle  and  King 
County  Oil  Company  are  drilling  a well  near  South  Park  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Duwamish  valley.  They  have  been  hindered 
by  a number  of  accidents  and  delays,  but  are  still  sinking  and  at 
last  reports  had  attained  a depth  of  seven  hundred  feet  without 
having  found  as  yet  any  indications  of  oil. 

This  completes  the  list  of  companies  which  are  carrying  on 
active  operations  in  the  state,  as  far  as  known.  A well  was 
sunk  near  Stanwood  station,  Snohomish  county,  about  ten  years 
ago,  by  Mr.  John  E.  McManus.  A depth  of  about  nine  hun- 
dred feet  was  attained,  but  owing  to  difficulties  of  drilling  it  was 
finally  abandoned.  Other  wells  have  no  doubt  been  sunk  at 
different  places,  but  the  data  regarding  them  is  not  at  hand. 


1 

I 

4 


' 4 


INDEX. 


Page 

Basalt 3 

Building  Stones 1 

Canyon  Lime  and  Cement  Company 27 

Chuckanut  Sandstone 6 

Clay  Materials 13 

Cowell  and  Company’s  Lime  Works  27 

Denny  Clay  Company 14 

Eagle  Lime  Company 27 

Eldorado  Oil  Company 52 

Granite 3 

Granite  Falls  Limestone 27 

Granite  Quarries 4 

Index  Granite 4 

Island  Lime  Company 27 

Lapush  Oil  Company  52 

Limestone 24 

Little  Falls  Fire  Clay  Company 18 

Marble  Quarries 12 

Medical  Lake  Granite 5 

Olympic  Oil  Company 52 

Ornamental  Stone 1 

Pacific  Oil  Wells  Company 53 

Petroleum  — 

Conditions  of  Occurrence 47 

In  Washington 49 

Origin  of 48 

Puget  Sound  Petroleum  Company 53 

Republic  Lime  Works 28 

Road-Making  Materials  — 

General  Statement 41 

Of  Eastern  Washington 45 

Of  Western  Washington 43 

Roads,  Construction  and  care  of 41 

Roberts,  Milnor 7, 14,  18 

Roche  Harbor  Lime  Works 24 

Sandstone 3 

Sandstone  Quarries 6 

San  Juan  Island  Limestone 24 

Seattle  and  King  County  Oil  Company 53 

Serpentine  Quatries 10 

Snake  River  Granite 5 

Soils  — 

Analyses  of 40 

Fertility  of 33 

Of  Eastern  Washington 37 

Of  Western  Washington 35 

Origin  of 30 

Spokane  Granite 5 

Springdale  Limestone 28 

Stevens  County  Marble 12 

Sucla  Island  Sandstone 7 

Tenino  Sandstone 7 

Valley  Serpentine 10 

Washington  Brick,  Lime  and  Manufacturing  Company 22,  28 

Wllkeson  Sandstone 10 

5— III 


(55) 


